I Promise
by sportiegrl
Summary: I hate war. I hate fighting. But if it was for you, I'd do anything. Even if it meant dying. All the promises I made, I'll never break. I vow, I promise to keep you happy for all eternity no matter whose life I have to take. CLOUDXTIFA
1. Prologue and Chapter 1: The Beginning

**Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy VII, that's Square Enix's. BUT I do own I Promise :)**

**I Promise is a property of sportiegrl/Justine Tran**

**Please enjoy!  
**

Prologue

Since the beginning, Nibelheim was seen as a utopian and tranquil kingdom, but who would have thought that in just one day, a great terror would strike. Nibelheim, famous for its peaceful and warmness, is ruled by the Great King Pallos Lockhart. Many travel across the world just to form a peaceful lifestyle for themselves. Although the kingdom was a peaceful one, the citizens of this kingdom were ignorant to the outside world and the chaos that would soon come.

Chapter 1: The Beginning

"ALL HAIL THE GREAT KING PALLOS!!" cheered the citizens of Nibelheim, as the king finished his speech. Today was the harvest festival and they were receiving the gratitude from their king for their hard work throughout the year. In this crowd, we meet our hero, ten-year-old Cloud Strife. The child had spiky, blond hair and blue eyes. He had light skin, which was slightly tanned, and he wore dirtied clothes, which luckily, had no holes. The poor child was an orphan that was eschewed from all the other citizens. Cloud, being the curious child he was, tried running and shoving through the crowd to obtain a glimpse of the king. Cloud looked up to the man in front of him, tapped him on the shoulder, and suppliantly asked the man if he could lift him up, so that he could have just one glance at the king. But unfortunately, the man just shoved to the back of the crowd. 'Forget it. It's impossible for me to see him.' he thought as he walked back with his head down. And then suddenly…

BUMP!

---Somewhere else---

Little nine-year-old Tifa Lockhart disguised herself and tried to blend in with the crowd as much as she could. Tifa was a child with waist long hazel colored hair, wine red colored eyes, pale skin, and she worse some decent clothes, but nobody would really tell since she wore a cloak around her shoulders. As she was walking through the crowd, she heard some shouting and made her way to the thundering voice through the banal and the crowd to the propinquity scene. When she reached her destination, she saw a feckless looking kid on the ground as an overtly furious man was yelling at the child as if the child stole something from him.

"WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING KID!! Well, if it isn't the little rat! Out of here boy! Why don't you just leave? You're unwanted here anyways! Now move! You're in the way!" shouted the man as he shoved Cloud back to the ground while he was trying to stand.

"Hey! Mister! Apologize to that boy right now!" a voice said. Cloud looked around surprisingly and searched for the owner of the child-like voice. He was surprised that someone actually stood up for him! He wondered if that person knew that he or she would be hated by everyone?

"Who said that?!" the man looked around furiously.

"I did." A nine-year-old girl with a cute look, but stern eyes accosted the man. Even with just a cloak around her, she held a dignified air. "I said apologize to the boy you old man!" she shouted with fury in her eyes.

"What did you say!? Kids should know their pace!" the man grew more furious "Besides, what are you going to do about it brat?" the man looked down and smirked at Tifa

"Stop being so mean and apologize!" Tifa was slowly losing her temper.

"Shut it you twerp!"

"That's it! As the heir to the throne of Nibelheim, after my father, King Pallos Lockhart, I, Tifa Lockhart, hereby order you to apologize to the boy for your wrong doing a few moments ago!" shouted Tifa as she held up a medallion that contained her family's royal emblem. The royal emblem was of a phoenix and dragon across from one another and looking at each other. In between the phoenix and dragon was a yin and yang symbol. At the top of the medallion, it said 'TIFA' and at the bottom, it said 'LOCKHART'.

Murmurs went through the crowd as everyone stared at Tifa. The man before her looked baffled, he went completely white and looked as if he was about to faint. Cloud was still on the ground, but this time with his mouth wide open and with wide eyes.

Tifa, uncomfortable with the stares, wanting to get this over with already, said "Well? Are you going to apologize or not?" The man finally snapped out of it and went to the boy. Cloud, afraid that he would get hit, scooted back further away from the man.

"I'm not gonna hurt you boy, so just come here." Said the man in an irritated voice. Cloud slowly crept to the man and when he got to him, the man helped him up and dusted off the dirt. "There good as new. Sorry. I've done my part, your Highness, so I will be leaving now." the man bowed and walked away.

Tifa, still uncomfortable from the stares of the crowd shouted, "OKAY ITS OVER! Can you leave me alone now??!" As soon as they heard that, the crowd dispersed quickly dispersed and apologies could be heard coming out of the townsmen's mouths. "Thank you…" Cloud said as Tifa turned back to face him.

"No worries! Us kids should be helping one another out!" She gave him a wink "So what's your name? Hm?" She looked at him with a wide smile.

"Cloud"

"Cloud huh? I like it! Clooouuudddd. Clouuu~dddd~. Cloud." Tifa repeatedly said as she was testing out the name rolling off her tongue. "I like that name! I'm Tifa by the way!" she grabbed his hand and shook it rapidly.

"Nice to meet you…" Cloud replied meekly.

"Oh come on! Don't be so shy! Speak louder!" Tifa said to Cloud. But all he did was nodded his head and mutter and apology. "You know what? You're gonna spend the whole day with me! We'll work on your confidence and everything today! All right??" Tifa looked at him with that wide smile of hers.

Close by to the two kids, the castle guard's shouts of "PRINCESS TIFA!! WHERE ARE YOU?!" could be heard.

"Uh oh! Come on! We gotta run!" Tifa put the hood of the cloak over her head and grabbed Cloud's arm and ran.

The two ended up playing and running away from the castle guards the whole day. Then, time flew by too quick for them, as the sun was quickly setting from the sky.

"Aw man. I gotta go now." Tifa paused and a new idea came to her "Oh! Here! This is for you!" Tifa took off her necklace and handed it to Cloud.

The necklace had an oval shape on it with the Chinese character for phoenix on one half and the Chinese character for dragon on the other half, with a small yin and yang sign in the middle and 'TIFA' written on the top.

"I can't take this, it's your necklace!" Cloud tried to give back the necklace.

"No. It's yours now! It's proof that we're best friends! So when I need help you'll come to my rescue alright? Promise? And think of it as a talisman!" She paused once more and heard the sounds of the castle guards calling for her again. "Oh! I have to go now. I hear them calling again, they must be crazy worried." Tifa quickly gave Cloud a hug good bye and started sprinting back to the castle.

"THANK YOU! I PROMISE TIFA!" Cloud quickly shouted as he saw her sprinting away, at first he thought she didn't hear him, but when he saw her turn her head back and wave, he knew his voice reached her.

This day, marked the start of something new; the beginning of a new friendship, an unbreakable bond, a new adventure, and a terrible incident that will lead to chaos.

----Somewhere in the outskirts of the kingdom-----

"When are we going to do it?" the first voice whispered.

"Soon. Just wait a few more days. We'll do it soon. When we get the signal. So be patient." Replied a second voice.

* * *

**Alright, so that's the prologue + first chapter :)**

**I don't know when my next update will be, but hopefully it'll be soon!**

**Reviews would be nice, you can tell me what you liked, hated, and what you suggest I do next. Who knows, I might incorporate your ideas into one of my chapters ;] I will say that it was your idea of course ^^**

**Also, pm me or whatever it's all good. **

**So stay tuned until next time! **

**_sportiegrl out~_  
**


	2. Chapter 2: Inside the Palace

**Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy VII or the characters, they're all Square Enix's.**

**But, the story _I Promise_ is by sportiegrl/Justine Tran. Nobody else.**

**The thanks are at the bottom :)**

**Please Enjoy!  
**

Chapter 2: Inside the Palace

-----Tifa's POV-----

I walked into the castle and got a lecture from my chambermaid, Shera, for being a princess with no etiquette. Shera has red hair, brown eyes, and glasses. Shera has been my chambermaid for as long as I can remember. She's like a Mama to me, since my real Mama died when I was four. My Mama was really beautiful. She gave me the medallion and necklace when I was really little. I remember Papa told me that she handcrafted it and it took her a long time to make it. Papa said she came from another country, that probably explained why the medallion has some weird animals and designs that I never heard of before. Well, Cloud better not lose that necklace or else he's dead meat! But, I don't think he'll lose it, I hope.

"Oh, Cid! Are you here to check on Tifa?" I turned towards the door after hearing Shera's statement. Cid, the engineer, has blond hair and blue eyes, his eyes are a little darker compared to Cloud's eyes. He's Papa's best friend, they knew each other since they were little and they also said they were always rivals, fighting with each other and competing with everything. Papa said he always won, but Cid said he always won, I think they're both crazy. I mean, two people can't win at the same time! That means it's a tie, and they have to use a tiebreaker! But I don't think they used a tiebreaker before either, you know old people, they don't know anything. Cid used to be one of the guards and he was one of the best soldiers, but he wanted to be and engineer more, so Papa let him become the kingdom's engineer, and he's the best one at it too! Cid is also married to Shera, they met a few years before I was born and married last year.

"Hey kiddo, how was the outside world today? Did you have fun?"

"Cid! You shouldn't be asking if she had fun or not! You should be telling her that it's bad she sneaks out on her own!"

"What!? If she wants to go out let her, damn, I would be sneaking out if I were her! It's no fun running around outside with some fucking guards trailing you the whole time!"

And, they started one of their arguments again. They argue all the time, but Papa said that's how they show their affection. That's so weird! How do you show affection by arguing? Aren't you supposed to be all hugging and kissing? I remember Mama and Papa doing that all the time.

"Alright you two, try not to fight and cuss in front of my daughter please?"

We all turned and looked at the voice. "PAPA!!!" I jumped into his arms, I hope he doesn't drop me like last time.

"Hey Tifa, did you have fun today?"

"Yep!"

"Your Highness! You shouldn't say that! It'll encourage her to do it again!"

"Oh! Of course! You know you shouldn't do that again Tifa." He looked at me with a serious face. I nodded in reply.

"But I made a new friend! His name's Cloud!"

Papa looked at me and smiled "You finally made a new friend? That's great. Then maybe we can arrange for Cloud to come play in the palace tomorrow? I could let you two play with the chocobos if you want."

"Play with the chocobos?!?! YES! Yay! I can't wait!" I hugged him tightly and he chuckled.

"I'll put her to bed, so you two can leave now."

Cid and Shera left to their rooms, it's only a few rooms away from mine. Papa carried me to the bed and tucked me under the covers.

"Goodnight my little Ai, sweet dreams. And don't stay up either; you have to be energized for tomorrow right? I love you." Papa kissed me on my forehead. Ai, Mama called me Ai all the time. Mama said it meant love in her language. Papa said that I'm their little Ai and they said they were going to name me that, but Papa always wanted to name his daughter Tifa, so they settles with Tifa instead.

"I love you too Papa." I watched as he smiled and said "goodnight" one more time and walked out of my room and closed the door. He's probably going to bed, he had a long day. And his room was only across the hall. Well, I guess I should get some sleep in me.

---------Outside Tifa's Room---------

King Pellos made his way towards Cid and Shera's room. He knocked on the door and Shera opened the door and allowed him in.

"Your Highness, did you have a matter you wanted to talk about?"

"Please, Shera, we've all known each other long enough. Call me by Pellos."

"So Pellos, what brings your ass here so late, just when I was gonna sleep?" Cid looked irritated as he sat on the bed.

"I have a feeling something bad is going to happen. Shinra and Jenova have been to quiet lately. They must be planning something so, stay on your toes." Pellos looked out the window, almost as if he was looking for something.

Cid noticed this of course, but ignored it, because he knew his best friend wouldn't tell him anything. "Fucking Shinra, he's such an arrogant bastard that he named the damn kingdom after himself. And Jenova, that psychotic bitch, is in league with him. Damn it all.

Pellos looked back at the couple with a serious look. "Cid, Shera, if anything were to happen to me, I want you two to take care of Tifa."

"Yes of course, but Pellos, what makes you say something will happen to you?" Shera looked at him with a worried look.

"It's just incase. Well, all the soldiers are armed and ready incase something does happen tonight. I'll leave you two alone tonight, goodnight." Pellos started for the door.

"Hey, Mr. High and Mighty, you better not die anytime soon, if you do, I'll kill you myself." Cid smirked at him.

"Of course, buddy. I'll see you two tomorrow." Pellos smiled and walked out the door to his room.

"I hope nothing does happen." Shera looked at Cid with a worried look.

"Don't worry Shera, everything will be okay. Now go to bed, you have to look after two kids tomorrow remember?"

"Alright, goodnight Cid, I love you." Shera gave him a kiss and crawled into bed.

"I love you too." He slowly got into bed as he looked out the window. Trying to catch a glimpse of something, perhaps the same thing Pellos was looking at moments ago. Cid laid down on his bed and looked at the ceiling. 'You better not die anytime soon bastard, she already lost her mother and she better not lose her father.' And he finally fell asleep.

* * *

**Alright so there's chapter two!**

**I managed to finish it in two days, I'm so proud. ^^**

**I hope you all enjoyed it!**

**I would like to give credit to**fantasydreamer94 **for the 'tifa and cloud playing with chocobos' idea. :)**

**So, when I woke up yesterday and today, looking at my emails, and I saw so many alert adds, reviews, and fave adds! I was so excited reading them! I believe I replied to everyone, whether you left a review or not, it's all good. **

**I'll continue to do my best! If you think my story is slacking or anything tell me! I need all the advice I can get! :)**

**Well, till next time!**

**Thanks you guys!  
**

**sportiegrl out~  
**


	3. Ch 3: The Night That Changed Everything

**Disclaimer: Final Fantasy VII and the characters belong to Square Enix.**

**_I Promise_ belongs only to sportiegrl/Justine Tran**

**Please Enjoy! :)  
**

Chapter 3: The Night That Changed Everything

-----The Outskirts Of the Kingdom-------

The first voice from before sat down and leaned against a tree. His shaggy red hair blew in the wind as he closed his green eyes. He sighed, "When's the signal? What IS the signal anyways Angeal?" He turned and faced his friend that was leaning against another tree. The man had dark blue eyes and his hair had long, slicked back spikes with a single bang on his forehead.

"Be patient Genesis, it'll be soon just be patient." Angeal kept his gaze at the sky, staring at the full moon as it was slowly rising up to the middle of the sky. Genesis sighed and sat there thinking about his favorite book, _LOVELESS_.

A few more minutes passed and rustling could be heard from behind them. Out came eight more men, all covered from head-to-toe in black outfits with a mask covering their face.

"You're all finally here, took you long enough." Angeal moved away from the tree and stretched his arms a little. The eight guys stayed quiet and stared at Angeal. Angeal looked at the full moon again; this time, the full moon was right in the middle of the sky, shining down on everything.

"Alright, we got our signal. Let's head out. Five of you get the King's room and three of you will come with me and Genesis." The eight men nodded and each decided who would be in which group.

"Wait wait wait wait. What signal?! I didn't see ANYTHING!" Genesis stood up in confusion. He looked back at Angeal, only to see him pointing at the moon. "Seriously? Are you serious? The moon was our signal this whole time? That's lame. I was expecting an explosion or fire or _something_!" Genesis gave Angeal an irritated look while he just smirked in response.

"So, did you figure out who's gonna be in which team?" The eight nodded at Angeal.

"They don't talk much huh? Creeps. Well whatever, let's just finish this. The ones going with me and Angeal head this way, the other five go that way. And when you're done with the King, go join the other 10 people with the raid in the city area." With that, each group went their separate ways.

-----Where Cloud Is------

Cloud was in an alley sandwiched between two cardboards, trying to keep himself warm. He was thinking about his day with Tifa and hoping that he would be able to play with her tomorrow. He pulled the top cardboard over his blond locks and tried closing his eyes to get some sleep. It was starting to work until he heard some screams and smelled smoke from all around him. He sat up and looked peeked his head out of the alley. Red was what he saw and screams were what he heard. One by one, people were being slaughtered before his eyes, they cried out in pain as they fell to the ground, falling in pools of blood. Houses were set on fire, people were screaming and running. He stood there peeking out of the alley, unsure of what to do as he saw the massacre taking place. He fell back as his knees gave out in fear. Fear consumed him from all around. He slowly crept back up, leaning against the wall and using it as support.

Some screams from women and children could be heard coming from the left of him, so he turned to see what was happening. A man had a sword equipped in his hand as he towered over a woman on the floor hugging her two kids, begging and crying to be let go unharmed. Cloud looked down in fear of possibly seeing another murder. As he looked down, he saw a rock at his foot. An idea came to him; with the little courage he had left in him, he picked up the rock and chucked it at the man. The man yelled in pain as the rock hit him in the head. He turned around in fury and smirked as he saw Cloud.

"Heh. Well if it isn't the little brat from this morning. Where's your little princess friend hm? If the plans went well, I suppose she _should_ be dead by now." He put his sword back in its' sheath.

Cloud's eyes widened, at the last statement and in fear of the man. Cloud turned around and ran as far as he could. He could here the muscular man's huge footsteps following him everywhere he went. He ran from alley to alley, hoping to loose the purple haired man.

A humorous laugh could be heard through the alley, the man's voice boomed through the alley. "Run and run, as far as you can, I will still find you."

Cloud kept running as much as he could, but his legs eventually gave out in need of a rest. The purple haired man walked over with a smirk and an evil glow to his golden eyes.

"Tired already? And I was barely beginning to have fun." He laughed in amusement as he kicked Cloud down and pressed his foot down on Cloud's stomach.

Cloud struggled beneath his foot. He looked over to the left of him and found a branch on fire lying on the ground. He quickly reached for it and hit the man's leg with the flaming branch. The man yelled in pain as his leg was burned. Cloud got up and began to run. The man quickly grabbed Cloud and started strangling him, holding him in the air. Cloud pried at the man's arms as best as he could as he was struggling for air. He slowly began to lose consciousness as his eyes were closing bit by bit. He looked over at the burning palace right before he lost consciousness, _Tifa…_ his last thought before his eyes closed.

"Azul, drop the boy before he dies." A man with spiky white hair and pale yellow eyes walked over to Cloud and the man named Azul stopped choking him. He kneeled down and checked Cloud's pulse. He stood and faced Azul as soon as he found one.

"Weiss, why can't I kill him? The little bastard burned my leg!" He motioned to his leg in anger.

"He's got some will, and he's not that bad with thinking on his feet. We could get some money if we sell him or if we keep him, he might be of good use to us." Azul just gave him an irritated look. "Stop with the attitude, tie him up to a tree or something near our camp. When you're done with that, come back here so we can finish the job." With that said; both men went their separate ways and continued with their mission.

-------In the Palace--------

Five men snuck into the King's room and saw that a body in the bed. Quickly, trying not to draw any attention, one of them stabbed the body. The one who stabbed the body pulled out his sword and stared in confusion as to why there was no blood on the bed or on his sword. A thud could be heard from behind them as they saw one of their comrade's body fall to the ground bleeding. Quickly they all drew their swords preparing themselves for what was to come next.

A figure stepped out from the shadows and into the moonlight. The King looked at the enemies as stepped into the moonlight and stood in a fighting position with his sword. He gave them all a glare and waited for them to charge at him. Right when they were about to attack him, his door flung open.

"Pellos!" Cid came rushing in with his lance, armed and ready.

"Cid! What about Tifa and Shera? You left them by themselves?!" Pellos gave a furious look at his best friend, semi-forgetting about the intruders.

"Relax; they're going to the escape route." Pellos gave Cid an annoyed look and turned back to the now four men.

"Is the first floor safe?"

Cid was quiet at first, "Well…there's a fire and that was probably a distraction and it's more than likely that there are some intruders down there too, but other than that, they'll be fine." Pellos gave him a pissed of look. "Well, to get to Shera and Tifa as soon as possible, we gotta get rid of these bastards, so you ready to kick some wanna-be ninja ass?" Cid smirked as he got into fighting position. Pellos just gave a smirk in response. All four of the men came charging at the two.

-----Tifa's Room----

Smoke could be smelled coming from the first floor to Tifa's room. Shera quickly woke her up and dragged her out of bed. Tifa was in confusion of what was going on until she heard the clashing of swords coming from her father's room. She began to run towards his room, but she was stopped by Shera.

"Don't worry Tifa; your father will be fine. Cid's with him, so he'll be okay. First we have to get out of here." Tifa's eyes began to water, but she held the tears back and nodded in understanding. "Now, we have to quickly go to the escape route on the first floor before the bad guys come alright?" She nodded again. Shera picked up Tifa and quickly ran down the winding stairs to the first floor.

When they got to the first floor, they saw a gruesome sight. Bodies covered in blood lying on the floor, rooms set on fire, people running around screaming and getting slaughtered. Shera pressed Tifa's head against her, shielding her eyes from the horror that was in front of them. Shera, turning away, ran to the east wing of the first floor, where the escape route was. Half way there, five men surrounded them.

"So we finally get to see the princess!" Genesis smirked at the two and put his sword over his shoulder. Angeal just stood there with a stoic look with his sword also over his shoulder. Shera bit back her fear and gave them a glare, tightening her grip on Tifa as she held her closer to her body.

"Why…why are you doing this to us?!"

"Why? Well, our King told us to and this is fun, that's why." Genesis gave Shera a smile as he answered her question.

Her glared hardened, "You're sick." At that response, Genesis glared back. He was about to open his mouth to retort but a voice yelled from behind.

"SHERA! TIFA!" A lance flew across the hall and flew right into one of Genesis' comrade's chest. "All right! Nailed that bastard!" Cid quickly ran forward and stopped right in front of the four intruders.

Pellos quickly caught up while holding his bleeding left side. Looking at the scene before him, he grew even more furious. His hand gripped his sword handle even harder, which caused his knuckles to turn white. His fury enveloped him as he forgot the pain on his left side and blindly ran forward slashing at his enemies. He ran towards his first target and quickly cut off the head of one of the masked men.

"Shera, take Tifa and leave now! Pellos and I will take care of these bastards." Shera unwillingly nodded and quickly ran to and through the escape route carrying Tifa. She personally wanted to stay there, but knowing that protecting Tifa was her first priority and that she would most likely be a burden, she ran away to save the little and herself.

Cid ran and grabbed his lance from the corpse and killed the last masked man. "Three down, two bastards to go."

Pellos quickly charged at Genesis and swung his sword at him. Genesis evaded the attack and swung back, but was blocked by Pellos' sword. The two of them repeatedly slashed at each other, equally matched, neither one of them gaining an upper hand.

Angeal, not one to waste time, quickly leaped towards Cid and slashed at him from above. Cid quickly did a forward dodge roll, nearly missing the death blow.

"Hm…Not bad for an engineer." Angeal smirked when he received the hardening glare from Cid.

Cid ran forward and swung his spear in every direction at Angeal, but each blow was blocked. The sound of a sword hitting the ground and a scream of pain could be heard from his friend behind him.

"PELLOS!" The mighty king was on the ground, holding his bleeding right shoulder. Cid was about to run to his friend's aid, but was stopped when a sword was held pointed right at his neck, forbidding him to move.

"Don't forget that your fight is with me." Angeal lowered his sword and went into a stance.

"Then I'll just have to get rid of your ass first then." Cid ran forward and began delivering even deadlier blows at his opponent than before, giving Angeal a hard time keeping up with blocking and evading the attacks, especially since the smoke in the room was getting thicker and the heat was rising higher due to the fire.

Genesis smirked, "That's all the king has to give? What a joke."

Pellos glared at Genesis; gritting his teeth, he ignored the pain from his shoulder and the now reoccurring pain from his left side; he moved his only able arm, grabbed his sword, and stood in a semi-slouching form. His glare hardened even more. "It's not over yet."

Amusement was clearly shown on Genesis' face as his smirk grew wider. But it suddenly stopped as he saw his comrade fall to the ground screaming in pain. Cid's lance could be seen plunged into Angeal's abdomen, the blood dripping out forming a new puddle. Cid held onto his lance and kicked Angeal's body off o it and another searing scream of pain could be heard from Angeal as he fell forward. Surprisingly, he was still alive.

Cid was about to give the final blow until Genesis thought of an idea. He quickly ran forward and grabbed Pellos by his injured shoulder, causing a scream of pain, and held his sword to Pellos' neck.

"Let's end this now Blondie. How 'bout a trade? Your man for my man."

Cid in response; he quickly pointed his lance at Angeal, pressing the bloody tip close to the back of his neck. Cid furrowed his brows in anger and confusion, "How do I know it ain't a trick?"

"Doing my missions are fun and all, but I would NEVER let my best friend be killed. Now let's do the trade. After we do this, we'll leave."

Cid nodded and they both released their hostages. Each one walking to their injured companion, both keeping their guards up, holding their weapons in ready-to-go positions incase the other decided to break the agreement.

"Pellos! Are you alright man?" Cid helped him up from the ground and put Pellos' arm around his shoulders to support him when walking.

"Yeah," Pellos coughed a few time, finding it harder to breathe with his injuries and the smoke in the room. "Let's get out of here quick before this place collapses on us."

Cid nodded in agreement and helped the king to safety. As they were getting out, he quickly took a look around and saw that the other two already left, there were no traces of them, except for the pile of blood on the ground, but that was all. They made it out in time, as they got out they gasped for the slightly cleaner air that was surrounding them. They walked further from the palace and they eventually made it outside the kingdom grounds. Panting, both were on the floor resting.

Cid quickly ripped parts of his shirt off and scooted over to Pellos. "Lemme help you get bandaged up." Pellos nodded and stayed leaning against the tree, trying to use as little energy as possible. The job was done quickly, but it was still efficient. Rustling could be heard from the bushes behind them. Cid quickly grabbed his lance, on alert, waiting for the stranger to come up.

Two figures came out of the bushes. Cid's eyes widened, a sigh of relief was heard from his lips as he dropped his lance. "Shera!"

"Cid!" Shera ran forward and gave him a hug and kiss, as if she finally saw him after 15 years of waiting.

"Cid!" Tifa ran to her 'uncle' and gave him a hug. After the hug, she looked around for her father. Seeing him leaning against the tree, she widened her eyes and rushed towards him. She hugged him tightly as let her tears flow, nuzzling her face into his chest. Mumbles from a sobbing voice could be heard saying "Papa" over and over again. Pellos softly pet her hair with his uninjured arm, trying to calm her down, telling her that everything would be fine.

A gasp from Shera could be heard as she brought her hand to her mouth. "We have to get him treated quickly!"

"I know Shera, but he can't move in that condition right now. He needs some rest; he's almost out of it. If we travel now, it'll be too hard for him."

"But—"

"I know I know. But we can't do anything right now. Besides, it's too dark out to travel and if we get attacked again; by an enemy or animal, we'll be screwed. An injured man, tired as hell soldier, a woman, and a little girl. You know how tough it'll be to not get killed? We need to rest until the sunrises."

Shera lowered her head and slightly nodded understanding the situation that they were in. "I guess…we'll just have to rest up now and wake up early tomorrow." Cid nodded and sighed as he got on the ground. He extended his arm out, signaling for Shera to join him and she did. Pellos stayed in the same position and Tifa curled herself up in a ball, leaning against Pellos' chest as he wrapped his left arm around her.

------Where Cloud Is--------

Cloud woke up and himself tied to a tree; one rope binding his ankles together and another binding his arms to the tree. Sitting up, he looked around and noticed three men and one woman sleeping around a campfire; each one having a distinct hair color, matching the color of their outfits. He also noticed the man that tried to kill him moments ago was one of the men around the fire. Cloud sat there trying to think of an idea on how to escape.

After moments of thinking, he noticed that there was a sword laying on the ground pretty close by. He laid himself flat on the ground and began extending himself as far as he could to reach the sword. He pulled the sword over using his feet and grabbed it with his hands. With all his might, he cut the rope. He quickly untied his bound ankles and ran deeper into the forest, taking the sword with him.

He ran further and further, not stopping until his legs gave out. He got back up once again and ran, afraid that the group of raiders would seek him out and kidnap him once again. The sun was rising and he decided it was fine for him to stop for while. He hid himself in some bushes and took a nap, holding the sword closely to him as he was resting.

The sun was finally up in the sky, shining high and bright. A man in his late twenties was walking through the woods. He was a tall, dark, muscular man with dark brown eyes and a black buzz cut. As he was walking pass a bush, he saw a flash of yellow. Curious, he looked closer, moving the leaves and tiny branches in the bushes, he saw a beaten up and dirty boy with blonde hair clinging onto a sword that was almost the same size as he was.

"Hm…I guess I'll take the kid to the village, he looks pretty beat up though. I'll just have Myrna take a look at him."

The man picked Cloud up and carried him back to his village.

------Where Tifa Is-------

Cid woke up once the sunlight hit his face. He sat up and took a look around, realizing what happened that night wasn't a dream. He stood and stretched a little and walked over to where Pellos was sleeping with Tifa leaning on him while being "protected" by his left arm.

Cid knelt down to the right side of Pellos. "Pellos wake up," Cid nudged him a little, but there was no response. "Pellos, get up," the same thing. "PELLOS! WAKE UP!" Cid furiously shook him. Pellos slumped over to the left causing his arm to release Tifa. Tifa fell out of her father's arms and rolled onto the ground. She slowly opened her eyes and sat up yawning, wondering what happened.

"…Cid? Why are you yelling so early in the morning?" A tired voice from behind him was heard.

"Shera…I think he's…" Unable to say the word, he looked at the ground, grit his teeth, and clenched his hands. Shera's eyes widened and ran forward to Pellos' body. She put two fingers against his neck and search for a pulse. Unable to find one, she fell back onto the ground in disbelief. Shaking her head, she covered his watering eyes.

Tifa looked at the two and then back towards her dad. Wondering what was wrong, she walked up to her 'aunt' Shera.

"Shera…auntie…what's wrong?" Shera looked at Tifa and pulled Tifa in a hug. Confused, Tifa just hugged her back, thinking it was the best solution.

"Tifa," Shera's voice was hoarse and almost every word came out after a sob. "Your father," Shera cried a little harder. "He's dead." Tifa widened her eyes as tears began to form.

"NO! You're lying!" Tifa pushed Shera away and ran towards her father. She pushed him, shoved him, and hit him, but no response came. So she began to scream, but nothing again. Reality hit her; she held her father close and cried for what seemed like forever.

Cid didn't know what to do. He got up and walked to the ruins of his home.

"Cid, where are you going?" Cid looked at Shera's red eyes with a mournful look.

"I'm gonna bury the bodies." And he walked on. Reaching the kingdom, he let out all his anger.

"WHAT THE FUCK!? I said you weren't allowed to die asshole! And if you were gonna die, it was gonna be me that was gonna kill your ass! What the hell?!" Cid yelled some more and punched the small piece of wall that was still standing. Panting from anger and exhaustion, "Damn it all. This wasn't supposed to happen." A few tears were let loose.

Moments later, Cid stopped and began burying the dead bodies, trying to give them respectful burials. He buried them with a shovel that he found; the shovel was covered in blood, probably from killing an enemy. It took the whole day to, he remembered all the faces he saw, and how many people there were; 112 men, 109 women, 97 children, and possible 125 people that were burned to ashes.

When he finished, he went back to the others. Shera had stopped crying and was comforting Tifa as she just sat there quietly staring at her dead father. _Time to bury man number 113…_ Cid thought as he approached the two.

"Ready?" He looked at the two and got a nod in response. He began to dig in the ground with the shovel. Several moments later, Pellos' body was covered and the respectful burial was completed. It was evening and the group decided to stay there another night. Cid went hunting and caught a few rabbits. The group grilled the rabbits over a small fire that they made and ate the rabbits, their first meal of the day.

Tifa looked over at Cid as she ate her meal. "Uncle Cid, did you see Cloud when you were putting the bodies away? He has your hair and eye color. Is he…dead?"

Cid looked over at her and gave her a sad look. "No clue kiddo. Well he definitely wasn't buried, but he might have been in ashes like the others, so I have no clue."

Tifa looked down at her meal; "Oh" was all she said.

"It's okay Tifa, maybe he's still alive. Maybe he got lucky." Shera looked at Tifa with a gentle smile, trying to tell her everything would be fine. Tifa just nodded.

"I hate the people that attacked us."

"Same here kiddo, those bastards are gonna pay." Cid said with venom as he furrowed his eyebrows from his reappearing anger.

"Who were they Uncle Cid?"

"Shinra and Jenova; those bastards. When I get my hands on them, I'll torture them and slice them to pieces." Cid glared at his meal thinking about his revenge. Tifa stayed quiet and slowly ate her meal.

"So…I think we should change our last names. Lockhart and Highwind are pretty famous last names, so maybe we should change our last names to my maiden name. Since it's not a famous one."

"Yeah, I guess that'll be a good idea." Cid nodded in agreement.

"What's gonna be our last name Aunt Shera?" Tifa tilted her head to the side with a questioning look.

"Sierra. Cid Sierra, Shera Sierra, and Tifa Sierra. We'll be a little family and move to the countryside." Seeing Tifa's saddening look she quickly continued, "Of course, it's only temporary Tifa. Only until it's safe again. But from then on you'll be Tifa Sierra and you can't tell ANYONE okay? If you do, we'll be in big trouble. So promise?"

Tifa looked up and gave a small smile, trying to stay strong. "I promise."

* * *

**Alright! There's chapter 3! Hope you guys liked it!**

**It's long, I know, sorry. .**

**Took three days to write this chapter -_____________-**

**Oh! There was no contact thing for this person, so...**

**Thank you **xctx **for adding my story to your alert list. :)**

**I'm pretty sure I sent a message or reply to everyone that added/wrote to me ^^  
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**Review and stuff :D**

**OH! Andddd if you like the TomoexKenshin couple, check out _Your Iris, My love_**

**If you like the KikyoxInuyasha couple, check out _Our Own Fairytale_ :)**

**They were by yours truly, so check them out, you might like them! x]**

**Thanks again!**

**-sportiegrl3  
**


	4. Chapter 4: A New Beginning

**Here's Chapter 4!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy VII or the characters, it's all owned by Square Enix.**

**But _I Promise_ is by sportiegrl/Justine Tran.**

**Well, enjoy!! :)**

**Some thanks are at the bottom :)  
**

Chapter 4: A New Beginning

I slowly opened my eyes, cringing a little as the rays of sunlight hit them. Where am I? Slowly sitting up from the bed that I was on, I noticed I was wearing some clothes that weren't even mine. What going on? Ouch! I cringed as pain was coming from my stomach. I lifted my shirt up a little and noticed a large part of my stomach was bruised.

"Oh, you're awake!" I turned to the lady at the door; she had short brown hair and brown eyes. "Wait right here, I'll go get Barrett!" She ran out of the doorway and her calls for the man named Barrett could be heard throughout the house. Minutes later, she came back and this time with a heavy-fit, dark man that had a black buzz cut and dark brown eyes. I guess he's Barrett?

"Well, you're finally up kid! You've been out for a few days, we were beginning to get worried!" His voice boomed merrily as he laughed a little. "I'm Barrett Wallace and this is my wife, Myrna." He pointed to himself and his wife. "Oh yeah, welcome to Wutai!" His cheery voice boomed throughout the whole house.

Mrs. Wallace walked over to the bed I was sitting on and gently lifted my arm as she examined it. "Luckily you had no broken bones when Barrett found you, just some scratches and bad bruises." She gave a small smile and examined me some more.

"Well kiddo, you got a name?"

I nodded and whispered my name.

"What was that? Speak up!"

"…Cloud…"

"Alright Cloud, where did you come from and why were you in the woods?"

"…" I looked down at my bruises.

"Well?! Look here kid! You gotta answer when being asked something! It's called manners! Didn't your mom ever teach you this?!" Oh boy was he mad.

"…I'm an orphan."

Mr. Wallace's angry faced turned kinda sad as he sighed. "Sorry kid. You know what, let's just start all over again. So you're name is Cloud right? Well, where did you come from?"

"Nibelheim."

Once I replied, everyone got real quiet for some reason. Mrs. Wallace's eyes became misty as she looked at her husband. Mr. Wallace sighed again and took a step closer to my bed. He grabbed a wooden chair and sat next to me. Sighing again, he gave me a sad look and put a hand on my shoulder.

"Kid, Nibelheim was found destroyed a few days ago."

So that's why they were so quiet. "I know." I paused and look down at my hands as if they were the most interesting things in the world. "I was there when it happened."

"…"

Sobs could be heard. Mr. Wallace and I directed our attention to his wife as she was trying to wipe away her tears as fast as possible with her sleeves. More sniffs and sobs were heard.

"Myrna...are you crying?!"

She quickly grabbed a small towel to wipe the rest of her tears and to blow her nose. "It's j-j-just s-so s-s-sad!" And her tears broke out more.

Mr. Wallace scooted his chair over to where she was seated and patted her back. He kept telling her it was okay, so that she would calm down. After a few minutes, she stopped crying and went back to looking at my injuries.

"Sorry bout that kid. Myrna, she gets a little emotional sometimes." He scratched his head and gave a small laugh. Mrs. Wallace just stuck her tongue out at him and that made Mr. Wallace chuckle some more. "So, why were you in the forest sleeping with sword?" He raised an eyebrow at me.

"…I was trying to save a family when the attacks were happening. And…the purple monster man ended up chasing after me and later on, he made me faint. I woke up the later at a campsite and I was tied to a tree. Luckily, I was able to set myself free with the sword and I ran away. Then I got tired and took a nap." I looked up at Mr. Wallace to see what he would say.

He had a thoughtful look on his face, "That's a pretty simplified story. I was kinda expecting it to be longer than that..."

"Um, Mr. Wallace?"

He turned to me and his eyes went wide. "…MISTER Wallace? HAHA! That's really weird." He tilted his head back as he laughed. He shook his head and wiped away a tear of laughter. "Don't call me that, I'm not that old. How about…Uncle? Yeah, I like Uncle." He paused and nodded as he was thinking about how the name sounded. "And you can call Myrna Auntie. How 'bout it Myrna?"

She nodded gave me a smile, "I don't mind. I kinda like it actually, Auntie…has a nice ring to it."

"Um…Uncle…?"

Uncle looked at me giving me a questioning look. "If you're wondering about the sword, it's right there." He pointed to the sword leaning against the doorframe.

"No…not that…"

He raised his eyebrow again, for like the 5th time so far. "Well what is it kid? Spit it out, I can't read minds."

"Do you…know what happened to the Lockharts? What about Princess Tifa?"

Again, silence engulfed the room.

I looked at Uncle, waiting for an answer. His reply was another sigh, which was probably the 10th time already today.

"Kid, they're gone. They were wiped out. I heard there's a grave for the King, but they couldn't find the princess' body. They think that she probably died in the fire."

"…" I felt some type of warm liquid running down my cheeks.

Uncle put a hand on my shoulder for sympathy. "Kid, I'm sorry. Did you know someone in the family of something?"

I nodded as I took his hand off my shoulder. "Can I be alone please?" I looked down, my bangs covering my eyes.

I heard Uncle stand up and leave the room. Auntie stood up and pulled me into a tight hug. "It's alright, it's going to be alright. Princess Tifa is watching over you know, so it'll be alright." She pet my hair and let go of me, finally leaving the room and closing the door.

It can't be. Tifa can't be dead. She was perfectly fine yesterday when we were playing. I brought my knees to my chest and wrapped my arms around them; I rested my head on my knees and cried a little more. This isn't fair! I got a pillow and threw it across the room at the wall. I grabbed another pillow and put my head in it, face down. "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" My muffled yell of frustration was heard. More tears came out and my pillow was slowly becoming soaked. This isn't fair at all. Why Tifa? Of all people, why Tifa?

I turned my head to the side, looking at the table next to my bed. Her necklace. I grabbed it off the table and looked at it as it was in my hands. In the sunlight, it gleamed as bright as the sun, it reminded of Tifa's smile. I brushed my fingertips over the symbol and characters. Dragon and phoenix. Tifa, this suited her so well. She was as courageous as a dragon and as pretty as a phoenix. I held onto the necklace tighter and I felt more tears leave my eyes. I couldn't protect her. I broke our promise. I cried harder into the pillow and held the necklace closer to me.

--------Where Tifa Is-------

Within the last few days, the "family" of three were able to find a new village to stay in. In fact, they just bought their little house today. The house that they bought was a one story, two bedroom house.

"Alright, so we got ourselves our new home. This place is a dump compared to the old place, but we'll manage with this I guess." Cid wandered around the house as he examined the old wooden walls.

"Well, it certainly has…potential." Shera looked at the wooden furniture. A single table with three chairs surrounding it was in the middle of the room. On the side, there was a large pot above a pit, where the fire was supposed to be. The room had three windows, which greatly brightened the room.

"I wanna go take a look at the rooms!" Tifa ran down a small hallway that lead to two room, each on either side of the hallway, both directly across from one another. The room on the left had a single bed and a nightstand. The room on the right was exactly the same, but the bed was bigger, so that it would fit two people.

"So I guess we know who gets which room."

Shera and Tifa nodded in agreement.

Shera knelt down to Tifa's height and smiled, "Tifa, why don't you go outside and make some new friends?"

Tifa looked at her and then at Cid. He nodded and smiled at her in return. Tifa looked back at Shera and gave a small smile as she nodded. She turned around and headed towards the door.

"Tifa." Shera paused as Tifa turned around and gave her a questioning look. "We love you. Be back before dark! And stay in the village. Now, go out ad have some fun." Shera smiled again and waved good-bye as Cid gave a grin.

"Have fun kiddo." He winked at her.

Tifa smiled from ear to ear and ran out the door.

"Ya know, she's getting over it faster than I thought." Cid said to Shera as he stared at the spot where his "daughter" just was.

"She's just hiding it. I hope she'll get over it soon though. Well come on Cid, we have to go out and buy some food for tonight and buy some better furniture." Shera headed for the door.

"Pft and exactly with what money? We just bought a house and all our money is burnt down at our old place." He gave her a bewildered look, wondering if his wife has gone insane.

Shera looked at him and rolled her eyes. "I'm not stupid Cid. I, of course being the smarter of us two, brought more money along with us."

"What?! Where?!"

Shera pulled at the top of her dress a little, giving some space between her dress and cheset. She reached into the space with her other hand and pulled out a little pouch. She threw the pouch at the shocked Cid. She winked, "I told you I was the smarter one." And walked out of the house.

Cid looked into the pouch and saw that the money in there was enough for them to live an easy life for a few more years. "Haha, well I'll be. Ah! Hey! Wait up!" He closed the pouch and put it in his pocket. He ran out the house and went to catch up with his wife for their little shopping trip.

-------Tifa's POV------

It's not like I'm not sad or anything that papas and the kingdom is gone, it's just that…I don't want Auntie Shera and Uncle Cid to worry. They have enough to deal with and I should just be happy that at least they didn't have to leave me and that I'm alive.

"HEY!! WATCH OUT!" Huh? I turned around, just to see a red ball flying my way. I covered my head and crouched a little, trying to shield myself away from the ball. It's as if just covering myself like this, the ball would magically go away. Nothing's happening…

I opened my eyes and saw a boy in front of me, with his back turned to me. It looks like Cloud… I studied the boy again; same spiky hair, but different color. This boy's hair was black. He was tall too. He was wearing a black shirt and blue jeans. He turned around, holding the ball in his hand. He gave me a big grin. He had the same eyes as Cloud, beautiful and blue.

"You okay?" He waved a hand in front of my face. I jerked back a little, kinda surprised.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine." I think I'm turning a little red.

"That's good! So, I saved your life huh? That means I'm your knight now. Since I'm your knight, doesn't that mean I get a reward?" He gave me a wink and smiled.

"Huh?" The next thing I noticed was this boys' lips on mine. I yelled and fell back.

Laughter escaped from his mouth. "You're not used to kissing or something? I thought girls liked those stuff. It's always in those fairytale books and everything."

I could feel my face heating up some more. "I don't even know you!"

"Well I'm Zack Fair. What's your name?" Another smile. When does he not smile?

"Tifa L-Sierra."

"L-Sierra? Weird last name."

"No, it's just Sierra."

"I see well nice to meet ya Tifa." He gave that wide smile again. I just gave a small nod and smile in return. "Well, Tifa, did you wanna play with us?" He pointed at the group of kids behind him. Where did they come from?! I didn't even notice them! I guess those other kids were there watching us the whole time.

"Okay! Let's go play!"

Zack laughed and grabbed my hand, dragging me behind him to go meet and play with his other friends. Maybe, I'll like it here. It doesn't seem that bad.

------Barrett's House------

"Cloud! Come down!" Cloud slowly got out of his bed as he heard Barrett's voice coming from the 1st floor. Before he left the room, he put Tifa's necklace around his neck, vowing to never take it off since it was his only memento of her. Surprisingly from all his crying, his eyes weren't that red.

He trudged out of the room and found the staircase to the 1st floor. His heavy footsteps could be heard as he went down the stairs. Once he found Barrett and Myrna in the kitchen. When he walked in, he noticed that two girls around his age were there too.

One girl had short dark brown hair and dark brown eyes. She was wearing a light green shirt with a pale yellow vest, white shorts, and a light green headband tied around her forehead to match.

The other girl had long braided brown hair tied with a pink ribbon. She had bright emerald eyes and she was wearing a white dress with a pink sash wrapping around her stomach.

"Cloud, this is Yuffie Kisaragi and Aerith Gainsborough." Myrna said as she pointed to the short haired girl first then to the girl with emerald eyes.

Yuffie sprang forward and grab Cloud's hands, shaking them really fast. "Hi Cloud! I'm Yuffie! I'm the village chief's daughter. And I'm eight years old. Nice to meet ya!" She gave him a wide grin as she finally let go of his hands.

A giggle could be heard from Aerith. "I'm Aerith, my mom's the florist in the village. And I'm ten years old." She bowed a little. "Oh! I brought you some flowers to congratulate you on waking up." She went and grabbed a small bouquet of sunflowers from the table and gave them to Cloud.

Cloud's face brightened up a little bit, but only a little. "…I'm Cloud. I'm ten." He didn't say anything more or anything less. An awkward silence fell upon everyone in the room.

"Well, why don't you kids go outside and play? And we'll call you all in when dinner is ready." Myrna gave them a smile and pushed them out the door. She kneeled down at Cloud and put her hand under his chin; gently lifting it up so that their eyes could meet. "Know Cloud, this is a good opportunity to make friends. I don't think Tifa would want you to be sad and alone all day, right?"

Cloud thought for a little and gave a small nod.

"Good, now I'll take the flowers and you go play." Myrna took the flowers and stood up, giving him another smile before his new found friends dragged him away to play.

"You think the kid will be alright?" Barrett folded his arms as he leaned against the wall.

Myrna was putting the flowers in a pail of water. "One day he will be. Wounds take time to heal. And now, he can have a new life and start fresh with a new beginning." She gave her husband a smile. Barrett understood what she meant and gave a nod of agreement and smiled.

* * *

**Alright!**

**There's chapter 4! :)**

**Hope you guys liked it! :D**

**It's kinda slow :/ sorry .**

**Well, tell me what you guys think! :D**

**Any criticism is allowed unless it's just flames about how much you hate Cloud and Tifa together and blah blah blah. Anything besides that is fine! ^^**

**Sorry it took a while, it's been 2 -3 weeks? Had bunch of homework :/ and I was busy celebrating CHINESE NEW YEARS!!! My most FAVE holiday ever!! :D**

**Sorry if there's a lot of grammer or spelling errors, the spell check is being lame for some weird reason and I'm being too lazy to re-read this chapter .**

**And here are some thanks and comments! :D**

Ameena** I'm glad you like this story!! :D Well the chapter is finally up!And for the rest, you just have to wait and see ;]**

scoliosisr2d2, Ameena, fragmentsofmemories16, fantasydreamer94, cherimai, and JunezZ. **Thanks for the support and reviews! :D**

**I know there are more, but I kinda deleted the added alerts and faves, sorry :(**

**But thanks to you guys too!! :D**

**Well, I'm pretty sure that's it :)**

**I'll try to get the next chapter up soon, but who knows when yet .**

**_- sportiegrl out~_  
**


	5. Chapter 5: Eight Years

**Disclaimer: Final Fantasy VII and the characters are property of Square Enix.**

**_I Promise_ is property of sportiegrl/Justine Tran**

**Please Enjoy! :)  
**

Chapter 5: Eight Years

It's been eight years. Eight years since my father and my kingdom died. It's been eight years since I became a Sierra. I've already gotten used to calling Uncle Cid, Papa and Auntie Shera, Mama. Papa is the village builder, while Mama opened her own bakery, the best one in town.

My life in Gongaga Village has been, well…interesting. Because of Zack, my eight years here have been full of non-stop adventures. He showed me all of the ins and outs of the village.

"…ifa! Tifa!" I snapped my eyes open at the sound of the voice.

"Zack!" He towered over me as I was lying down on the bench, consumed in my thoughts. He held a big grin on his face even though he had very heavy breathing and was consumed in sweat.

I sat up, giving him a spot to sit on the bench. I pat the seat next to me, "Here."

"Thanks." He still held a wide grin. "Man! Sword practice was tiring!" He laid on the bench, putting his sweat dripping head on my lap.

"Zack! You're sweat is getting all over my pants! It's gonna look like a peed!" I yelled as I tried shoving his head off my lap.

He just laughed and shook his head around, trying to get as much sweat on me as possible. "I'm tired~." He whined.

I sighed and put my hands on the bench. "Fine. So how was sword practice?"

He groaned. "Torture! You're so lucky you have Zangan-sensei as a martial arts teacher instead of a swordsmanship teacher. He's way harsher on us than your class!" He furrowed his brows and gave a huff.

Tifa laughed at him, which caused him to pout some more.

"It's true!"

"Yeah, yeah. He's only harsh on you because you're a lazy bum." She teased, sticking her tongue out at him.

He rolled his eyes, "Whatever you teacher's pet."

"Psh whatever you're just—"

"Tifa! Zack!" The voices of their childhood friends could be heard.

"Tifa!" Jessie, a girl with red-brown hair and light red eyes yelled as she made her way over with three guys. The four stopped in front of the bench and caught their breath after their quick sprint over here.

"Hey Jessie, Biggs, Wedge, Johnny." I gave a smile.

Wedge was a plump guy with black hair and black eyes, always wearing a red bandana around his head. He was the best of friends with Biggs; the two have been friends since forever, apparently, it started because of a small fight over a toy. They've been friends ever since that incident. Opposite of Wedge is Biggs; a thin, but muscular guy that has auburn colored hair and back eyes. Similar to Wedge's bandana, he wears red headband, cloth-thing, or whatever the heck it is, tied around his forehead. Last was Johnny; he has spiked up red hair and dark brown eyes, with a piercing, one on each ear.

Jessie turned her attention to Zack and immediately perked up; I guess she likes him…? "Hey Zack." She said with a shy smile.

Zack sat up on the bench; giving her a wave and a cheerful smile. "Hey Jessie." A faint blush could be shown on her face. Man, he's such a flirtatious lady-killer. He turned to the other three and gave a cheerful "Hey", in which he received in return.

"So why were you guys running and calling my name?"

"Oh, your dad wants to talk to you 'bout some AVALANCHE stuff. He's waiting at home." Biggs answered me.

AVALANCHE is a resistance group against Shinra and Jenova. After the eight years of my new life, those two have been becoming worse and worse everyday. Talks about other villages being robbed by them and destroyed were constantly circling around. Cid Papa created this group for two reasons: 1. Revenge for Papa, our kingdom, and his friends. 2. To take down the bastards. AVALANCHE has spread pretty far; we also have an AVALANCHE base in Wutai. Papa makes trips there sometimes to meet with some other members, but I've never been there before.

I stood up and began making my way home. Johnny quickly stepped next to me. "Hey, so Tifa, how 'bout we catch some dinner tonight? Me and you, alone." He gave me a wink.

I felt Zack's strong arm around my shoulder as he was leading me away form the group, in the direction of my house. "Sorry _Johnny_, but she has something to do remember?" I was pulled further and further away from the group.

I could here Johnny shout, "Damn you Zack!" as we walked further away. I looked at Zack's expression through the corner of my eyes, only to see him smirk at his little victory. I could only sigh and shake my head.

-------Tifa's House------

"Papa, you wanted to talk to me?" I asked as Zack and I walked into my house, seeing Cid Papa sitting down at the table.

"Oh, Tifa you're home." Shera Mama was setting food down on the table. "Oh and Zack is here too."

Zack gave a curt bow, "Hi Mr. and Mrs. Sierra."

"Hey kid." Papa said as he looked at us from his seat. His look turned into a quick glare, "Get your damn arm off my daughter!" Zack quickly pulled his arm away from me and gulped.

Mama sighed, "Tifa, could you please go get Vincent?"

"Sure." I nodded and headed to down the hall.

"Wait I'll go with you." It was obvious Zack didn't wanna be in the same room as Papa.

"Oh no you don't." Papa grabbed the back of Zack's shirt, his tight grip stopping Zack from moving. For eight years of no fighting, he's still really strong. I can't match up at all to him and he's always going easy on me! Jerk…

A gulp came from Zack again and a nervous smile was on his face. "Never mind then…" Poor guy.

"That's right. You better watch it or else I'll have Nanaki get you." A low grow was heard from under the table. Our family pet, Nanaki, had a threatening look in his eyes as he slowly prowled from under the table. Zack gulped a little. I feel kinda sorry for him, since Nanaki hasn't gotten used to him yet over all these years. Nanaki is something like a lion, but with beautiful orange-red fur. Papa saved him from getting poached for fur one day and Nanaki has stayed with us ever since then. That was only a few months after we moved here.

I gave a small chuckle at Zack's nervousness as he sat with Papa at the table and at Nanaki as he was on guard, circling around Zack's seat, patrolling him. I just shook my head at them and headed down the hall to Vincent's room.

The door creaked open as I walked inside. Should make a reminder to have Papa check that later. Vincent was still sleeping at noon. His hair is longer than mine! Mine stops right below my shoulders while his goes down to the middle of his back. His long black hair was almost blending in with his black clothes. This guy might as well be a vampire, his black hair, black clothes, and never being able to get up in the day.

I sat on the edge of the bed, "Wake up you Vampire!" I shouted as tried shaking him awake. He grumbled a few times and just rolled over. "WAKE UP!"

"Ugh. Fine, just stop yelling." He let out an irritated growl and rolled over, looking at me with annoyed red eyes. "You're still as loud as ever. You haven't changed since I first met you."

I just stuck my tongue out at him.

"I never said it was a bad thing." He yawned a little and got up from his bed. He then made his way to the bathroom down the hall. I sat on his bed, waiting for him to return. We met only a year after I moved to this village. I was wandering around and I just found him one day.

"_Nanaki! Wait up!" An eleven year old Tifa yelled as she was chasing after her lion. Nanaki only roared a little kept running ahead. "Nanaki!" She gasped for air as she finally caught up to him when he stopped at his destination. "Nanaki, wait up for me next ti—" She stopped midway when she saw Nanaki slowly creeping up to a young boy leaning against a tree. He looked only a few years older than she was._

_Nanaki slowly crept up to the boy, sniffing the air as he got closer and closer. Tifa slowly crept closer as well, being cautious incase something went wrong. She sat beside him and observed him even more. He looked a little bruised up and had some small cuts on him. She softly touched his cheek, tracing the cut that was there. _

_His eyes immediately snapped open; a hard glare was shot at her from his red eyes. He quickly grabbed her hands and pinned her down. "Who are you?!" Untrusting red eyes pierced through her body. She just froze up; nothing was coming to her head._

_A roar was heard from behind them and the boy was suddenly shoved off of Tifa. "Nanaki!" The lion stood between the boy and Tifa, standing protectively in front of her. A low growl was heard from him as he glared at the boy._

_The boy's glare hardened against Nanaki as he stood up. "Ugh!" He grunted as he knelt over in pain, holding a bleeding side._

_Tifa quickly got up and ran to him, "Are you okay?" She gave him a worried look._

"_Get away from me." He said in a low and pained voice as he slowly drifted to unconsciousness. _

_Tifa didn't panic, like most would. "Nanaki come here." The lion did as his master ordered. Tifa slowly and carefully moved to boy and put him on Nanaki's back. A growl came from Nanaki, clearly irritated that he had to carry the boy that almost harmed his master. "Stop that Nanaki, he needs help. Let's take him back home." Nanaki growled a little more, but still obeyed orders._

"_Tifa, Nanaki, you two are finally ho—oh my gosh!" Shera quickly ran to the boy on Nanaki's back. "Cid! Come here!"_

_Heavy footsteps could be heard as Cid made his way down the hall. He grumbled, "What? I was busy building—what the hell?!" He yelled as he saw the boy. He quickly picked up the injured boy and carried him to the spare room across from Tifa's room._

"_Tifa," Shera said in a voice as calm as possible. "Go to your room with Nanaki."_

"_What about him?" She asked, referring to the boy._

"_Don't worry; we'll take care of him." _

_Tifa gave a small nod and quickly went to her room with Nanaki as Shera quickly ran to the spare room with a bucket of water. The two adults spent the rest of the day healing the injured boy, while Tifa stayed in her room and eventually fell asleep. _

_The next morning, Tifa was the first to awaken. Well, considering that she woke up at sunrise. She quietly snuck past Nanaki and carefully opened her bedroom door. She tiptoed across the hall and opened the door to the boy's room. She quickly snuck inside and closed to the door behind her. She cautiously walked over to the bed and peered at the sleeping boy. Grabbing a chair, she sat by him. _

_His hand then clenched into a fist and he moved around in his bed as if he was trying to fight something off. Tifa grabbed his hand, rubbing her thumb over his hand in a soft motion. Her other hand softly stroked his head as she hummed a soft tune, trying to calm him down. She noticed it working as he stopped fussing around. She gave a soft smile. She slowly put her head down on the bed and fell asleep with her hand still wrapped around his._

_The boy squinted his eyes as the sunlight shined through the window and into the room. He slowly sat up and wondered where he was. His eyes widened as soon as he saw Tifa next to him. He quickly shook his hand free from her grasp._

"_Mmmm?" Tifa slowly opened and rubbed her eyes, yawning right afterwards. "Oh! You're awake!" She gave him a bright smile, but she received a glare in return. _

"_Well, I'm Tifa. What's your name?" Her smile didn't waver._

"…" _Only a glare was what she received._

_Tifa sighed a little. "I'm not gonna hurt you or anything."_

"…_Vincent."_

_She widened her eyes a little. "Huh?" She leaned closer to him._

_His face flushed with a little as he slightly turned his head the other way. "My name. It's Vincent Valentine."_

_Her face immediately brightened up. "Nice to meet ya Vincent! I'm Tifa Sierra!" She held a cheerful smile._

"…_You're really loud." He said in a blunt tone._

_She stopped and her cheerful look was replaced with an annoyed one. "Well excuse me, the person that kinda saved your life, for being loud!"_

_Vincent sighed, "Sorry."_

"_That's okay!" She went back to her cheerful mood._

'_That was easy.' Vincent thought as he gave a small smirk._

"_Hey! You're smiling!" _

_He rolled his eyes. "No it's not. It's called a smirk."_

"_Smirk, smile, whatever. Potato, potahto, same difference." She shrugged._

_He shook his head, "No, they're no—"_

_The door to the room opened, "Oh! Both of you are up. Tifa, why are you in here?" Shera walked in with Cid behind her and Nanaki following in._

"_Morning Mama, morning Papa." She gave them a warm smile._

"_Morning kiddo." Cid said as he walked over and pat her head. He turned his attention to Vincent, "I'm Cid and you are?"_

"…_Vincent Valentine…"_

"_Nice to meet you Vincent." Shera gave him a warm smile. "Are you still hurting?"_

_He shook his head, "Not really."_

_Shera let a breathe off relief out. "That's good."_

"_So where are you form kid?" Cid stood and folded his arms. "Where are your folks at?"_

"_Corel." Vincent replied in a low voice._

"…"

_There was an awkward silence around the room._

"_Corel…Cid, isn't that the village that was recently destroyed by Shinra and Jenova?" Shera had a worried look._

_Cid nodded, "Yeah." He then sighed and scratched his head. "Alright kid, this will be your room from now on. When you're 18 you can move out if you want, but until then, you'll be living under our roof whether you want to or not. No complaints."_

"…" _Vincent looked as if he was in deep thought. "That's fine."_

"_Alright right then." Cid said. _

_Tifa held an excited look, Shera had a warm expression on her face, while Cid had a soft gaze. "WELCOME TO THE SIERRA FAMILY VINCENT!" The three Sierras gave a cheerful shout._

"Hey." Vincent gave Tifa a flick on her forehead.

"Ouch!" She put a hand over the wound and gave a semi-hurt look.

"Stop daydreaming and let's go eat."

She stuck out her tongue and laughed. He just rolled his eyes and the two headed to the table.

"You two took forever." Zack gave a small jealous glare. Zack was seated next to Shera, who sat next to the head of the table, Cid.

Tifa took a seat on the other side of Cid and Vincent beside her, across from Zack.

Vincent smirked as he sat down, "Why? Jealous?"

"Hm. Maybe." Zack gave a smirk back at him.

"Hm." Vincent's look became stoic. The tension between the two slowly rose thicker and thicker.

"…So, Papa, what did you want me for?" Tifa tried changing the topic as best as possible.

"Oh that right." He set down his fork and gave them a serious look. "Tifa, Vincent, and Zack. I need the three of you to go to Wutai for me and meet with the guy in charge of the AVALANCHE section over there. His name is Barret Wallace. I need you guys to go there and give this to him." He handed Tifa an envelope. "Give him that and get his response. I need you three to go there for me since I have a lot of work to do right now."

"Sure, I'm fine with that." Tifa said and the other two agreed.

"Okay. Then tomorrow morning is when you guys will head over there. Here's a map." He handed the map to Tifa, who passed it to Vincent. "And take Nanaki with you guys."

"Alright."

-------The Next Day. In Wutai With Cloud---------

The spiky haired blonde was laid out on the grass under a shady tree, enjoying nature's beauty. Not much has he changed over the past eight years, except for the fact that he's even quieter than he used to be. He still had the same spiky hair and piercing blue eyes. He still wore Tifa's necklace, never taking it off no matter what. Throughout the eight years, he learned swordsmanship and was one of the best in Wutai.

"Cloud!" A perky voice called out to Cloud as he was resting. "Cloud!" A grunt was heard from him as the perky ninja jumped on him. "Haha! Captured! By the best ninja in Wutai!" Yuffie pumped a fist in the air.

"Yuffie, I'm pretty sure Cloud doesn't like you jumping on his stomach like that." Aerith said, trying to get Yuffie off of him.

"Haha, fine." She climbed off of him and sat on the grass beside him.

Cloud groaned as he sat up, rubbing his stomach as he moved and leaned against the shady tree.

"You okay Cloud?" Aerith gave him a worried look.

"Yeah, I might just bruise a little though."

"Hey! I'm not so fat that you would be injured so bad!" Yuffie furrowed her brows and gave an angry huff.

"…" Cloud just looked away, avoiding eye contact with her.

Yuffie's face turned bright red. "Evil jerk!"

"Kidding, kidding."

Yuffie just gave a pout and a huff while Aerith just laughed at the two.

"Oh yeah! Youe Uncle called us for something. Come on! Let's go! Maybe it's for an AVALANCHE thing!" Yuffie jumped up and pulled at Cloud's arm.

"Alright, alright." He stood up and smoothed out his clothing.

The three began walking towards Barret's place. Yuffie looked over at Cloud and Aerith as they walked. A smirk formed on her lips and she stopped in front of them. They both raised their eyebrows at her, wondering what was going on in that head of hers.

She gave them a wide grin. "I'm gonna go get something from home really fast, so I'll meet you at Barret's place in a bit."

"We'll just go with you." Cloud suggested.

She shook her head and hands. "No, no. It's fine _you two_ should go on ahead." She gave a wink at Aerith.

Aerith's face slightly colored, knowing what Yuffie was trying to do for her. "Y-yeah. Why don't we just go on ahead? Mr. Wallace might have something important to tell us. When Yuffie meets up with us later, we'll just inform her on what happened." Aerith gave Cloud a small, embarrassed smile.

He just shrugged, "I guess."

"Alright. Then see you guys later!" She gave a sly smile and wink at Aerith, which cause her face to flush even more. Yuffie cheerfully whistled as she made her way back home.

The two continued their way towards Barret's house. "Yuffie sure is getting weirder each and everyday." Cloud commented as soon as Yuffie was out of sight.

Aerith sighed and put a hand on her cheek. "Yes, yes she is." She shook her head. _'So much for not being obvious.'_ Aerith just sighed again. They walked in silence; it wasn't an awkward silence, but a peaceful and serene one.

"Oh yeah." Cloud stopped and dug into his pocket. He pulled out a little box with a small bow on top. "Happy late birthday." He said with a lopsided smile as he handed her the present. "Sorry, I know it's a day late. I was just really busy yesterday with some AVALANCHE stuff."

Aerith gasped as she took the box into her own hands. "No, it's perfectly fine." She held a genuine smile on her face as she slowly unwrapped the present.

As he waited for Aerith to finish opening her present, he noticed a group of three and a red lion coming in their direction. It wasn't the red lion; the man that was similar to him in hair style, clothing, and weapon of choice; or the man that had long black hair and wore a red coat over his all black outfit. It was in fact the woman that traveled with them. Her shoulder length hazel hair and her cheerful wine red eyes reminded him of her. He was shocked; believing that the gods and spirits were playing tricks on him. As the group walked pass him, he noticed that she was staring at him as well, but it was only for a few seconds; she quickly gave a polite smile and looked away. _'It's not her. The dead can't be revived.'_ A hint of sadness was shown in his eyes as he sighed and moved his attention back to Aerith.

She saw what was going on. She already opened her present and was about to thank him with a cheerful smile, but stopped when she saw him staring at the foreigner. She saw the sadness in his eyes and his heavy sigh when he moved his attention back towards her. She cocked her head to the side, "Do you know her?"

Cloud just shook his head. Aerith decided that it was best to not press the matter any deeper.

She cleared her throat to gain his attention. When his eyes were on her, she held the pink ribbon up. "I love this. Thank you so much." She gave a loving smile that any man would have fallen for, but some how it wasn't clear if Cloud had fallen for it.

"No problem." He gave a small smile. "We should head on back. Uncle is probably waiting for us." Cloud said as he began his way back to the house. Aerith nodded and quickly put the ribbon back in the box. She ran to Cloud and followed him in step back to the house.

--------------With Tifa------------

"I swear the lady said it was this way." Zack said as he pointed forward and furrowed his brows.

Vincent sighed, "I knew I should've asked the lady instead of you."

"I swear it's this way!" Zack repeated, trying to convince himself and his companions.

"You sure?" Vincent asked and Zack nodded with a confident look. Vincent sighed again, "Fine, let's go this way then."

Tifa just laughed at the two men on either side of her. "It's okay; we'll find the place eventually."

"Yeah! There's nothing to freak about!" Zack said with much enthusiasm.

"You two are too optimistic." Vincent sighed again.

Tifa and Zack just laughed and Zack took this opportunity to put his arm around her shoulders. Vincent's brows furrowed a little and he removed Zack's arm from Tifa's shoulders.

"Nanaki." He said in a low voice. A threatening growl came from the lion as he inched closer to Zack.

Zack gulped and put his hands up defensively. "Okay, okay I get it!"

Vincent called Nanaki back, signally him that it was fine. Tifa gave a small giggle as she tried to suppress her laughter.

"And what are you laughing at little miss?" Zack raised an eyebrow and put his hands on his waist.

"Oh, nothing, nothing." She gave a grin and waved her hand. Zack just kept his brow raised.

Vincent rolled his eyes. "We should get going." He said as he started walking forward in the direction Zack pointed to.

"Oh yeah!" Zack and Tifa exclaimed in unison. They ran to catch up to him and followed him in step.

It was only a few moments later that Zack began his daily routine of annoying Vincent.

"Imagine me and you, I do.

I think about you day and night

It's only right

To think about the girl you love

And hold her tight

So happy together~"

"Shut up." Vincent said in an irritated voice.

Zack just ignored him and continued on with his song.

"If I could call you up

And invest a dime

And you say you belong to me

And ease my mind

Imagine how the world could be

So very fine

So happy together~"

Vincent's brows furrowed and twitched a little as they kept walking.

"I can't see me loving anybody but you

For all my life

When you're with me

Baby the skies are blue

For all my life

Me and you

And you and me

No matter how they tossed the dice

It had to be

The only one for me and you

And you for—"

Vincent finally exploded, "WOULD YOU SHUT UP?!"

Zack held a sly smirk, "Well if you have a problem with it, why don't you just ignore it?"

Vincent's eyes were like daggers, "You stupid—"

And that was around the time that Tifa would ignore the two completely. It usually continued with some name calling and then Zack get threatened by Vincent or Nanaki.

It didn't take Tifa long to notice that young man that was staring at her. She noticed him and her eyes slightly widened. The spiky blond hair and blue eyes brought so many memories back to her. _'He looks just like him…What if it is him?'_ Then she quickly shook her head. _'No, the dead can't be revived. No matter how much you wish for it, they can't be revived. It's probably someone else that just looks like him. Besides! It's been eight years!'_

They walked pass the blond haired man and Tifa just gave him a polite smile, but he just gave her a blank look in return.

"You know him Tifa?" Zack asked as he put his arms behind his head.

"Nope, just being polite." Tifa said as she gave a small smile.

Vincent and Zack exchanged looks of confusion as they raised their eyebrows. Vincent gave Zack another looks that meant something along the lines of, "Best not to press the subject any further."

Zack nodded in agreement and just whistled some songs that he learned from his friends.

* * *

**Alright!**

**There's Chapter 5! :)**

**Sorry it took FOREVER :(  
**

**I had so much homework and projects and i was working on _Your Iris, My Love_ and _Our Own Fairytale_; so this one has been pushed back :( sorry. :/ and i was having major brain farts and writer's block. this was the best i could think of at the moment :( it took me like 2 weeks to finish this, which is really weird because it usually takes me just 2 days -________________-  
**

Fait Strife: **Haha well i agree it's been slow. My bad lol. It'll be Cloti don't worry :) Um...Thank you...? lolll i'll try my best! :) ohhh i hate the grammer errors! i read it and i can't find any, then when i read it again once it's up, i find so many mistakes! -_________-**

tatoo26: **Haha, i'm glad you like this. you're the first of my readers to read two of my stories! ^^ Thanks! :D**

scoliosisr2d2: **Glad you liked it! Hope you'll enjoy chapter 5! :)**

fantasydreamer94: **LOL don't worry i'm not straying from Cloti :) haha if i do, everyone might kill me -__________- lol and i'm sorry it took a while for me to update :/ enjoy chapter 5! :)**

**Thanks **Fait Strife, tatoo26, scoliosisr2d2, **and **fantasydreamer94, **for keeping up with me and reviewing and giving advice! :)**

**Well, I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter! :)**

**Thanks again!**

**_- sportiegrl out~_  
**


	6. Chapter 6: The Meeting

**Disclaimer: Final Fantasy VII and the characters are owned by Square Enix**

_**I Promise**_** is the property of sportiegrl/Justine Tran**

**Enjoy! :)  
**

Chapter 6: The Meeting

"Man, where's Cid at?! He was supposed to be here 15 minutes ago!" Barret yelled as he banged his hand on the table.

"Who's Cid?" Yuffie asked as she sat down. It was Yuffie, Aerith, and Cloud's first time in an official AVALANCHE meeting, so of course they didn't know who Cid was.

"He's the one who started AVALANCHE. He's supposed to be here with some important info and where is he? Not here!" Barret yelled again.

"Patience Barret, patience." Myrna said as she tried to calm him down.

Yuffie leaned over to Aerith and whispered, "So?"

Aerith gave a confused look and whispered back, "So what?"

Yuffie sighed, "What did you guys talk about?" She gave Aerith a sly smile.

Aerith blushed a little and pointed to the pink ribbon that she put in her hair.

Yuffie raised a brow in confusion. "You guys…talked about a ribbon?"

Aerith gave a small giggle. "No silly. He gave me the ribbon."

Yuffie gave a small gasp and squealed in excitement.

"Shhh. Not to loud."

"Oh that's right." Yuffie peered over at the spiky blond that sat across from them. She gave a small giggle.

"What are you laughing at?" Aerith raised a brow.

Yuffie pointed at Cloud. "He's always in his own little world." Aerith gave a few giggles as well. It was true; he was always in his own little world.

Knocks at the door were heard and Myrna made her way to open it. Greetings could be heard in the other room and Myrna came back to the meeting room with three people and a red lion.

"Everyone, this is Zack, Vincent, and Tifa. They're here as a replacement for Cid." The trio bowed respectively to everyone sitting at the table.

"So why are you guys late?" Barret asked as he tried to suppress his anger.

Zack and Tifa froze a little from the obvious anger coming from the large and muscular man.

"We got lost." Vincent simply said as he looked Barret straight in the eyes.

Barret gave a small smirk. "Well have a seat." He motioned to the empty seats across from him.

"Oh," Tifa reached into her pocket and grabbed the enveloped that Cid had given her the day before. "Who is Barret Wallace?"

"Me." Barret said. Tifa slid the envelope across the table towards him.

"I believe my father said this was for you."

Barret opened the envelope and read its' contents. "Alright." He said as he folded the letter back up and put it back into the envelope. "I guess introductions are needed first. I'm Barret Wallace, the head of AVALANCHE in Wutai."

"I'm Myrna Wallace." Everyone turned their attention to the left of Barret. "I'm Barret's wife."

Besides Myrna was Yuffie. "I'm Yuffie Kurasagi! The best ninja in Wutai!" She exclaimed with much enthusiasm as she pumped a fist in the air.

Next was Aerith. "I'm Aerith Gainsborough. I'm a medical specialist." She gave a small, polite smile.

"And right here is my nephew Cloud." Barret said proudly as he put his right hand on Cloud's left shoulder. "He's the best swordsman here in Wutai." Hearing no greeting from Cloud, Barret turned to him and raised a brow. "Cloud?"

Cloud was silent. His eyes were widened and his whole body was frozen from shock. He couldn't believe it. The girl from earlier was really her! He thought at first the gods were playing tricks on him, but there she was, right there in front of him. This whole time, these eight years, she wasn't dead.

"Tifa…" He said in a soft voice.

"Cloud?" Barret repeated and Cloud snapped out of his thoughts.

"I'm Cloud. Nice to meet you." He held a stoic look and greeted the three.

They nodded and Zack was next. "I'm Zack Fair." He leaned closer to Tifa and put his arm around her shoulder. "Well I guess you can say I'm the best swordsman at Gongaga." He smirked and turned his head towards Tifa. "Right?"

She had a thoughtful look. "Hm…I don't think so. You haven't challenged Vincent yet and you can't beat Zangan-sensei or my dad." Zack gave a huff and a pout while Vincent smirked at Tifa's bluntness.

"Well Zack, I guess you've forgotten the incident earlier huh?" Vincent asked as he glared at Zack through the corner of his eyes.

He gave Vincent a confused look. "What incident?"

"Nanaki."

The same threatening growl from earlier and Zack immediately removed his arm.

Vincent smirked. "Good job Nanaki." And the growling stopped.

"Stupid vampire." Zack muttered under his breath.

"What?" Vincent asked in a threatening voice.

"I said—"

Tifa clamped a hand on Zack's mouth, stopping him from continuing on.

Her temper finally snapped. "That's enough you two. We're at an AVALANCHE meeting, so behave." She gave Zack and Vincent a warning look which made then stop their arguing immediately. Vincent and even Zack weren't stupid enough to provoke her any further. Sure Tifa was a sweet girl, but when you got on her bad side, you shouldn't be surprised to get a bruised body and a bloody lip.

Tifa removed her hand from Zack's mouth and cleared her throat. "I'm Tifa Sierra, Cid's daughter. And I'm a martial artist, under the training of Zangan-sensei." She gave a sweet smile. "And he's Nanaki." She pointed to the lion on the ground and he greeted with a roar.

"Vincent Valentine. Swordsman." He crossed his arms and leaned back, giving everyone an indifferent look.

"Alright, let's get down to business then" Barret started. "Right now, Midgar is in turmoil. I need all of you to go help Midgar and to also investigate what Shinra and Jenova's next plan is. We need all of you guys there to protect and help the people of Midgar incase there's another village massacre by Shinra and Jenova."

Everyone at the table nodded their heads in understanding.

"When do we leave for this mission and when will we be back?" Tifa asked with a serious look.

"All of you will leave tomorrow morning to Gongaga to be more informed on this mission by your father Cid. So I suggest everyone pack up tonight and get ready to leave for tomorrow." Barret said. "And you three," he directed his attention to Zack, Tifa, and Vincent. "Will be staying here for the night. We have plenty of space."

They nodded, "Thank you." They said in unison.

"Alright, meeting finished."

Yuffie and Aerith said their goodbyes and immediately headed home to pack their belongings and Cloud went upstairs to his room to do the same.

-------Tifa POV----------

When I saw him earlier, I thought it was just a coincidence, but here he was, only a few feet away from me.

"I'll be right back." I told Vincent and Zack. I didn't even wait for their reply; I practically ran up the stairs and turned the corner, seeing the spiky blond head enter a room.

I quickly walked into the room and closed the door behind me. I was acting ridiculous, as if he would slip away from me again and I wouldn't be able to see him for another eight years. I guess I was acting that way because in this big world, once you let someone go, the odds are that you will never meet that person again.

He stood up straight and looked at me with his blue eyes. "Tifa." He said in a low voice. Instantly, I ran forward and tackled him into a hug. I guess my weight was too much of a surprise to him because he let out a small "Woah!" and had to take a few steps back to rebalance himself. Side note; lose some weight.

He lifted one hand and used it to run through my hair and the other hand was wrapped around my body. I felt his head rest on the top of mine as he continued running his finders through my hair.

The next thing I did shocked him right away. I pushed away from him and socked him in the arm. "I thought you died!" He flinched a little. "I thought you were dead all these years! This whole time! I thought you died in the fire!" I threw countless punches at his chest, but it seemed like he got used to it because he stopped flinching and took all the hits. I felt tears forming in my eyes and running down my cheeks as I kept yelling at him. I stopped and leaned forward, my forehead resting against his chest and my shoulders heaved up and down from my heavy breathing.

He wrapped his strong arms around me, "I'm sorry."

I shook my head and pulled away from him. I wiped my tears using the back of my hand.

"In my defense I thought you were dead all these years as well." He said in a soft voice. He sighed and sat on his bed. "I was told by everyone that you died. Everyone in Nibelheim died. I thought I was the only survivor."

His eyes looked so sad. "Well, now you aren't the only one." I gave him a grin. "You got me now and there's Cid Papa and Shera Mama."

He gave a confused look. "I thought your father was the King and your mother was gone."

"Cid Papa and Shera Mama are my new parents. They were Mom and Dad's best friends back home."

"I see."

"Hey." He looked up at me wondering what I was gonna say. I moved my hand forward and flicked his forehead.

He flinched, "Ow. What was that for?"

I smirked, "Stop being such a downer." I gave a sigh and put my hands on my hips. "You're still the same Cloud from when we were ten. Quiet and shy, geez after eight years one would think you grew out of it already." I gave a smirk and stuck out my tongue.

He smirked a little. "And you're the same Tifa from when we were ten. Outspoken and straight forward; you didn't change one bit at all."

"Nope!" I gave him a wide and toothy grin. He gave a curt laugh. "Oh! Do you still have my necklace?"

He nodded and grabbed the necklace hiding under his shirt. "Did you want it back?" He reached for the clip.

"No, no. I said it was yours." I smiled. "Besides, you aren't allowed to EVER take that off!" I gave a wink and tapped my chin with my index finger. "Hm…"

"…?" Cloud raised a brow.

"I got it!" I gave a wide grin.

"Got…what?"

"A punishment for you," I paused, my grin turned into a smirk. I heard Cloud gulp a little. "Your punishment is…to be my slave or servant, whatever you wanna call it."

"Servant?"

I nodded. "Yup! That's you're punishment for not coming to my rescue last time. So now, I'm the master and you're my servant." My smirk grew wider.

He paused and thought for a moment. "Alright."

I blinked, not believing what I heard. "What?"

"Alright."

"Seriously?"

Cloud nodded.

"Awesome!" I gave a wide grin. "I didn't think you would actually go for it!"

"Well apparently I did."

I laughed a little. "Well, I better get going so I know where to sleep tonight." I gave another grin and began heading for the door. "Oh yeah!" I turned around, "Don't forget our promise this time." A teasing smile was on my lips as I gave him a wink.

His lips curved upward into a small smirk. "I promise. Besides, what are best friends for?"

My teasing smile was wiped off of my face. B-best friend? What the heck?! Only best friend?! Wait. Why am I so hung up on him only calling me his best friend anyways? I felt my lips curve upward into a twitching smile as I forced a cheerful look onto my face.

"Y-yeah, best friends!" I quickly turned away and reached for the knob. I heard footsteps scattering away from the door on the other side. I raised a brow and quickly opened the door, hoping to catch the eavesdroppers, but they were already gone.

"What are you doing?" Cloud raised a brow.

"Hm? I thought someone was on the other side listening this whole time, but I guess I was wrong. Well, see you later." And I walked out.

---------Down Stairs---------

"Shoot! We almost got caught!" Zack said in a loud whisper.

"Idiot, you—"

"So it WAS you two that were eavesdropping on us!" Tifa said in anger as she pointed at Zack and Vincent.

"T-Tifa!" The two exclaimed.

Tifa stood there with her brow raised and arms crossed as she tapped her foot, waiting for an explanation.

"It was Zack's idea." Vincent said as he pointed to Zack.

"W-what?!" His jaw dropped. He glared at Vincent, _'Damn sell-out.'_ While Vincent just ignored it.

"Zack…" Tifa said in a low threatening voice.

"B-but we didn't hear anything I swear!" He put on a nervous grin.

She gave them untrusting stares and then sighed. "Fine, I believe you, but no more eavesdropping got it?"

"Yes ma'am." The two men said in unison.

"Well where's our rooms? I wanna get some sleep for tomorrow." Tifa said as she yawned.

"Yours is down the hall to the right and ours is right next to yours. We already put your stuff in your room, so you can just go right on to bed." Vincent informed her.

She gave a wide grin and gave each of them a hug. "Thanks guys! Nights." She went upstairs and headed to her room.

Vincent held a small smile as Zack gave a dreamy sigh. "Man that girl, you just can't help but love her."

Vincent glared at him through the corner of his eyes and hit him over the head.

"Ouch!"

"Stop fantasizing about her." Vincent walked up the stairs and into the room he was sharing with Zack.

"Jerk!" Zack yelled as he ran up the stairs behind Vincent.

"Moron."

"Damn Vam—"

"SHUT UP!" Tifa opened the door and yelled. The two men immediately stopped. "Thank you." And she slammed her door close.

"…"

"…Let's just go to bed before she gets even more mad." Zack suggested.

"Yeah." Vincent nodded and the two headed to bed.

--------The Next Day----------

"Alright, everyone ready to go?" Tifa asked as she put on her backpack.

Cloud, Zack, and Vincent nodded in response while Nanaki gave small roar.

"Alright then, let's head out."

"Wait a minute. Cloud I have something for you." Barret said as he held out a huge sword and handed it to Cloud. "This is the Buster Sword. There are only two of them in this world and you have the second one. Both were made by me, although, the first one was stolen from me."

Cloud's eyes grew wide. "T-thank you so much."

"It's nothing kid." Barret said with a smile. He then turned towards Zack. "That reminds me. Where did you get _your_ Buster Sword from?" He said as he eyed the Buster Sword on Zack's back.

"If you're thinking I stole this, then you got it all wrong." Zack's face went from its free-will look to a serious one.

Barret gave a snort. "I know _you_ didn't steal it boy. You weren't even born yet when it was stolen. But who did you get it from?"

"My father. I have no clue who my father is, but what I do know is that when he died, this sword was delivered to me."

"Hm. I see."

Tension rose in the room. Tifa cleared her throat, "You know, we're late to meet up with Yuffie and Aerith."

"Yes, yes that's right. It's best you all begin to head out." Myrna said with a smile. "Be careful!" She yelled as the group of five left the house.

----------At the Village Entrance--------

"What's taking them so long?! It's been over 15 minutes!" Yuffie said as she stomped around and huffed.

"Calm down Yuffie, they're probably on their way right now." Aerith said, trying to calm Yuffie down.

"Well they should have been here by now."

"Yuffie, just be—oh! They're here!" Aerith exclaimed as she waved her arms at the group of five.

"Sorry we're…late." Tifa said as she panted, catching her breathe from the run that they just did.

"It's alright." Aerith said with a polite smile.

"No, it's NOT alright. You were supposed to be here around 15 minutes ago!" Yuffie said in fury.

"Yuffie…" Aerith said in warning tone and Yuffie immediately stopped. Aerith turned back to the others. "Well shall we get going?" She held a pleasant smile on her face.

'…_Scary…'_ the word went through everyone's minds.

"Um, yeah, sure let's leave." Tifa replied and the group made their way to Gongaga Village.

"Next stop, Gongaga Village!" Yuffie shouted as she pumped a fist into the air with excitement.

_'Damn, not another Zack...'_ Vincent dreaded as he walked along side of Tifa.

* * *

**Alright there's chapter 6! :)**

**hope you guys liked it! **

**I had so much brain power blockage with this chapter :(**

**so if it's horrible, i'm super sorry TT-TT**

**this was all i could milk out of my brain :/**

fantasydreamer94**: Mwahaha! lol i just LOVE to torture you guys with those passing by moments *evil smiley* **

KH Love Always**: Thanks for adding my story! :D Glad you liked it ^^**

Eclipse Storywriter**: Glad you like my story as well! :D Hope you like this chapter :)**

fragmentsofmemories16**: Haha yes, you are correct! lol ahhh yuffiee... well every story needs a little rebel ;] lol**

Tifa4Buhay**: haha ok side note, love your username! :D but what's buhay? I keep thinking Boo-tay you know? and i just can't help but crack up x] lol don't worry it wont be clorith or whatever, i'm a total clotif fan ^^ lol**

Stryper**: Hi hi! so happy you added this story ^^ well continue reading future chapters! :D and your anxiety should be over! :)**

scoliosisr2d2**: lol glad you liked that part, my fave part of the chapter as well x] it took me forever for what song to put. so i watched That 70s Show, the musical episode and "happy together" was on ^^ that show is my inspiration for many things lol x]**

**i'm glad everyone was satisfied with the last chapter! :D**

**hope you'll all be satisfied with this one, if not, let me know! and i'll totally try my best to rewrite it!!!**

**Well thanks for all your support everyone! :)**

**_-sportiegrl out~_  
**


	7. Chapter 7: Bathing Time

**Disclaimer: Final Fantasy VII and characters are owned by Square Enix**

**_I Promise _is property of sportiegrl/Justine Tran**

**Enjoy! :)  
**

Chapter 7: Bathing Time

"It's getting late, why don't we just rest here?" Vincent suggested. Everyone agreed and the girls went to collect some logs for a fire while the guys went to go catch something to eat.

It's been hours since they left Wutai and the sun was almost fully set. For a journey that should only take one day to get from one village to the other, it took them a day to get only halfway. It was mostly due to the fact that Yuffie kept whining for breaks and eventually Zack joined her in on the whining. Vincent almost lost his mind and killed them off, but Tifa was able to restrain him for his almost murder.

"Took you guys long enough!" Yuffie said as she stood up and ran to the guys. "So what did you guys catch?" She had an excited look on her face.

"Fish and rabbit." Cloud held up two rabbits tied together by a rope around their legs while Zack held up a net of five fish.

She made a disgusted look. "Ew, why not a boar? Why rabbit? They're too cute to eat! And fish have that nasty sea smell and gross texture." She scrunched up her nose and made fake gagging noises.

Vincent rolled his eyes. "If you don't like it then don't eat." He walked over towards Tifa and added in a couple of logs to keep the fire going.

Yuffie turned and stuck her tongue at him behind his back. "Jerk." She muttered to herself.

Zack stood next to her and pat her on the shoulder. "I know how you feel." He sighed as he walked over to the fire and started putting the fish on sticks. Cloud walked over to the fire as well and tied the rabbits onto sticks. Aerith and Tifa began grilling the fish and the rabbit, making sure not to burn the food.

Yuffie sniffed the air a little and slowly followed the smell and took a seat next to Aerith and Tifa.

"It's done! Get it while it's still hot!" Tifa exclaimed as she handed everyone their own stick. She took one rabbit off of its' stick and put it on the ground. "Nanaki!" She called and he strolled over, laid on the ground next to her, and happily tore apart the grilled rabbit. Everyone was given a grilled fish except for Cloud, who had a rabbit, since he was the one who caught the rabbit.

Yuffie twirled the fish stick between her index and thumb. She scrunched up her nose in disgust. "This looks gross! I don't wanna eat this! I'm the chief's daughter and I don't wanna eat this!" A loud growl of hunger was heard from her stomach and everyone froze.

Zack was the first to burst into laughter. "I guess your stomach says otherwise!" Everyone else followed in the laughter as well, well everyone except Yuffie.

Her face colored a deep shade of red. "Not funny!"

Tifa stopped laughing and sighed. She was sick of the complaining. It was probably because Yuffie was treated as royalty in her village, but that was still no reason to keep on complaining. "Stop complaining Yuffie. You should be thankful that you have something to eat. And the guys were nice enough to catch you something to eat so you should be thankful. If you hate it so much, then starve."

Zack whistled. "Yuffie, I suggest you just either eat or starve and definitely stop complaining before Teef gets even more mad. Because she can be sc~ary!"

"Fine." Yuffie mumbled and nibbled on her grilled fish. "Hm…" She chewed and swallowed. "Not bad!" She grinned and happily scarfed the fish down.

Tifa grinned and shook her head while everyone chuckled at the hyperactive, child-like girl.

"Man, that was good!" Zack pat his stomach and sighed with content.

"Why don't you guys go bathe first since you guys caught tonight's dinner" Tifa suggested with a smile.

"Sure!" Zack said and immediately stood up. He ran over to Tifa and gave her a peck on the cheek. Yuffie's jaw dropped and Aerith brought her hand to her mouth in surprise. Vincent's anger began rising, but before he could say something, someone already beat him to the punch.

Cloud rushed forward and pulled Zack back. His bright blue eyes turned into a deep blue-green shade, a murderous look. Cloud's grip on Zack's arm tightened as his glare deepened.

"Cloud?" Tifa's soft and worried voice snapped him out of his trance.

His eyes widened and he immediately let go. He shook his head. Yuffie and Aerith exchanged confused and worried glances.

Zack rubbed his wrist. "Ouch…that really hurt man." His brow furrowed in pain and anger.

"Sorry." He muttered in a low voice and gave a curt bow.

"Let's just go to the lake and bathe." Vincent said as he made his way to the lake. "Nanaki, you come as well." Nanaki made a small roar and followed Vincent, so did Zack and Cloud.

-At the Lake-

The three men sat in the lake. Cloud leaned against a big boulder that was close to the side of the lake, Vincent leaned against the wall of ground at the side of the lake, Zack was leaning against the same thing but a normal distance away from Vincent, and Nanaki sat on the ground right behind Vincent.

It was an awkward silence due to the sudden events that happened not too long ago, but Vincent ignored the awkward atmosphere. He turned to Nanaki, "Nanaki get in here so you can bathe."

Nanaki gave a low growl.

"Now."

He growled again.

"Na. Na. Ki." Vincent said with a threatening look as his red eyes glowed in annoyance.

Nanaki gave a low threatening growl, but eventually gave in and slowly crept into the lake. The lake was shallow enough for Nanaki to keep his head above water. The water went up to the three men's chest when they sat down in the lake.

"Good Nanaki." Vincent said with a small smile as he began washing the lion.

Nanaki just roared in reply.

"So Cloud…" Zack started, not knowing how to approach his newfound friend.

Cloud just looked at him with a blank look.

'_He's kinda like Vincent, just not as mean looking.'_ Zack felt a shutter go through his body as he slightly freaked out about the two men's likeliness. _'Great…Another Vincent.'_ Zack just shook his thoughts away and cleared his throat. "So Cloud…do you have a thing for Tifa or something?"

This caught Vincent's attention. He stopped washing Nanaki and turned his head towards Cloud, staring at him with unwavering eyes.

"…" Cloud didn't know what to say. Was he supposed to reveal his past with Tifa? Heck, do they even know her past? He was too confused on what to do. But before that, he couldn't even figure out why he felt so angry in the first place. He just felt anger rushing through his body and the next thing he knew, he wanted to beat Zack to a pulp for pecking Tifa on the cheek. "I…I honestly don't know. I just reacted."

Zack sighed. "Geez. Well I guess you won't be considered as a rival since you don't even know your own feelings."

"…" Vincent stayed quiet.

"Rival for what?" Cloud raised his brow.

"For Tifa's love of course!" Zack enthusiastically brought his hand to his heart. "You aren't from Gongaga, so you don't know, but Tifa's the most beautiful girl in the village and almost every guy is after her. I've been able to get Johnny away lately, so he's not much of a rival anymore. So far my only main rival is Vincent." Zack looked at him through the corner of his eyes and glared a little.

Vincent just smirked. "Please, you aren't even considered competition."

"You stupid vampire!" Zack balled his fists and Vincent's smirk just grew wider.

"…There's no need to start a fight. I'm pretty sure Tifa wouldn't like it if you did." Cloud said in a low voice.

Zack and Vincent froze, turning their head towards Cloud. Zack burst into a fit of laughter and Vincent put a hand over his mouth, covering his fit of chuckles.

"What?" Cloud raised his brow.

"Haha! Don't worry," He paused and put a hand on his stomach as he bent over a little from laughter. "We won't kill each other." He paused again and wiped away a small tear. "Sure we're rivals, but we're also best friends. So it's a friendly rivalry."

Vincent's fits of chuckles ceased. "Yeah, we've known since a long time ago about our feelings for Tifa and it's just as Zack said, 'a friendly rivalry.' Besides, we're always like this, Tifa's used to it already, well kinda."

Zack nodded in agreement. "Mhm. Whoever win's Tifa's heart first gets to be with her. Example; if I manage to have Tifa fall in love with me then I win, which I will." Vincent snorted, but Zack ignored him and continued. "Then I win."

"But," Vincent continued on. "If he and Tifa happen to break up, which will never happen since she won't fall for him anyways," Vincent paused and Zack snorted. "Then I'll get to try and win her over again. It's basically a little love game we have going on."

"I see." Cloud paused as he processed everything in his mind. "And does Tifa know about this little 'love game?"

"Well…not exactly. Here's the deal, Tifa's pretty clueless about things like love. She wouldn't even know when a guy was hitting on her, but hey, that's less competition for us." Zack smirked and winked. "So she probably, well most likely doesn't know that we're in love with her and this rivalry is going on." Zack finished and sighed.

"I see." Cloud leaned back and sighed. _'This is too complicated.'_

-With the Girls-

Yuffie and Aerith sat side by side in front of the fire as they waited for the boys to finish bathing. Tifa sat in silence across form them on the other side of the fire. It was an awkward silence due to the events that happened a while ago.

"So…" Yuffie started.

"…" Tifa and Aerith stayed silent as they turned to face Yuffie, waiting for her to continue.

"So Tifa, are you close to Cloud or something?" Yuffie asked.

Aerith directed her attention to Tifa. Her eyes were full of worry and a little bit of sadness as she waited for Tifa's answer. Never has Cloud been angry of a guy hitting on herself, but why was he so angry when Zack pecked Tifa on the cheek? It couldn't have been that he's fallen for Tifa has it? She thought it was impossible, since Cloud and Tifa only knew each other for almost only a day. _'Impossible. I'm the girl closest to him, so he possibly couldn't have fallen for a girl he doesn't even know…right?'_

Tifa couldn't tell them about her and Cloud's past, so what was she supposed to say? She was at a loss for words when she noticed Aerith's sad eyes. She definitely didn't know how to respond, she felt like it was her fault that Aerith looked so depressed. What was she supposed to do?

Tifa ignored her thoughts and just gave a polite smile to the two. "What do you mean? I barely met him, so of course I don't really know him."

"Ah! That's right!" Yuffie gave a wide grin. "Of course, of course! Well then, to let you in on a secret," Yuffie paused and looked around, observing the area for the guys. "Aerith is actually in love with Cloud!"

"Yuffie!" Aerith yelled. "You aren't supposed to tell that to anyone!"

"It's okay Aerith, Tifa can help us with getting you and Cloud together." She turned to Tifa. "So can you help us?"

Tifa sat there in shock. She didn't know how to respond. What was she supposed to say? Sure, no problemo? Of course, how can I help? She could have said this, but something inside of her didn't want to. She opened her lips, "Uh…"

"Hey girls! We're done!" Zack's voice boomed as he and the guys walked towards the fire and the girls.

'_Saved by Zack.'_ Tifa thought as she gave a relieved sigh.

"Alright bath time!" Yuffie said as she jumped up and ran towards the lake.

Aerith stood as well and began following Yuffie, but stopped when she noticed that Tifa wasn't getting up. "Tifa, aren't you going to bathe too?"

"Huh? Oh, I'll go after you guys go."

Aerith titled her head to the side. "Why not just come with us?"

"It's useless trying to convince Tifa. She has a thing about bathing with other people and going swimming." Zack said as he sat and leaned against a tree.

"I see. Are you sure Tifa?"

Tifa nodded and smiled. "Positive. You guys go first."

Aerith nodded and walked off. Nanaki roared as he laid on the ground behind Tifa and slowly drifted to sleep.

"So did you have fun bonding with the girls?" Zack asked.

"Did you have fun bonding with the guys?"

"Don't ignore the question!" Zack huffed and pouted. Tifa just stuck her tongue out at him.

"Now, now. Settle down kids." Vincent said from his spot next to Tifa.

Tifa rolled her eyes. "Like you should talk Mr. I argue with Zack 24/7." She smirked. Vincent just gave an annoyed look and rolled his eyes, then bringing his attention to the fire.

Tifa looked across the fire where Cloud was sitting. "So were you having fun bonding with them? Or were they being jerks to you? If they were, I could seriously pound them for you." She gave a wink and a grin.

Cloud cracked a small smile. "No, it was a pretty interesting bonding moment." He turned to Zack and Vincent, giving them a smirk.

Zack gave a twitching smile back at him and Vincent just gave him a blank look as he slightly raised a brow. _'It feels…as if he's challenging me…'_ Both men thought as they saw Cloud's smirk.

"Hm…It kinda seems like you guys known each other for a while now." Zack said as he observed the two. Vincent nodded in agreement.

"No we just met yesterday." Cloud said in a smooth tone.

Tifa sighed. "Cloud, they were spying on us yesterday, BUT they did say that they didn't hear anything of what we were saying." She looked at Vincent and Zack as she raised her brow.

"We didn't." Vincent stated.

"So what did you guys talk about?" Zack had an eager look on his face. He was dying to know what happened behind those closed doors.

"Curiosity killed the cat." Tifa's lips curved into a small smirk.

"But knowledge brought it back." Vincent replied with an equal smirk.

Tifa's brows furrowed a little. "Well I'm still not telling." She stuck her tongue out at the two.

"Oh, come on Teef!" Zack begged.

"Nope~" She said in a sing-song voice.

"Tifa."

"No."

"Teef."

"Nope."

"T."

"Nah."

"Tiiiiiiifaaaaaaaaaaa."

"Nooooooooooooo."

"Ti—"

"We're done!" Yuffie voice boomed through their little camp grounds.

'_Saved by Yuffie.'_ Tifa thought and gave a relieved sigh.

'_She really is another Zack. Damn.'_ Vincent thought as he tried his best to ignore her.

"Well, my turn to bathe." Tifa smiled as she quickly ran to the lake. Happy that she could finally take a bath and because she was able to get away from Zack's begging.

-At the Lake-

Tifa glanced around; making sure no one was around. She undressed herself and folded her clothes, placing them on the ground. She took off her medallion and paced it in the middle of her clothes, making sure it was hidden. She walked in the lake and sat in the water, leaning against the boulder. She hummed a little song to herself as she washed her body. Next was her hair, so she inhaled as much air as she could and went under water, making sure all of her hair was soaked in the water. She kept her breath held as she began washing her hair under the water.

She moved her head above water and let out a loud gasp for air. She tossed her hair back and smoothed out her wet hair with her hands. She opened her eyes and looked in front of her. A man with long silver hair and green eyes looked at her slightly widened eyes. He had a muscular build and was almost a head taller than herself. He was right in front of her, naked.

"…"

"…" His eyes diverted downward and his face slightly colored.

She followed his eyes and noticed that her chest was widely exposed. "AHHHHHHHH!" Tifa screamed. The silver haired man covered his ears as he heard her scream. "PERVERT!" Tifa threw a punch, direct hit at his face.

"Ouch!"

She threw another swing.

"Sto—ouch! Stop it!" He lunged forward, pushing her against the boulder and pinning her arms against the boulder before she could throw another punch.

"TIFA!" Voices from her friends were heard as they reached the lake. All of them except for Nanaki appeared; who was probably still asleep.

"Tifa!" Cloud shouted as he saw the scene before him. His blue eyes deepened to a green-blue shade once again. He lunged at the silver haired man in the water, but the man dodged it. Everyone, except for Aerith and Tifa lunged at the silver haired man as well, trying to harm him in anyway possible, but he was able to dodge all their attacks, showing how his skills were obviously superior to theirs.

The silver haired man quickly jumped out of the lake, grabbed his clothes and ran deep into the forest. Zack and Vincent tried going after the man, but they lost him.

"Damn, only if Nanaki was awake and here to sniff the bastard out." Zack said as he and Vincent came back to the lake.

"Tifa, are you alright?" Cloud looked at her with worried eyes. "Did he do anything to you?"

She shook her head. "He didn't, he just stood there and looked."

Cloud gave a relieved sigh and accidentally glanced down. His face turned beet red. He quickly turned the other way and cleared his throat.

Zack looked and gave a long whistle, "Nice."

Vincent hit Zack over the head. Vincent's own face turned a deep shade of red that seemed to resemble his cloak and eyes.

Tifa made sure her back was pressed against the boulder, making sure her tattoo couldn't be seen by the others. She brought her hands up and covered her chest. "GET OUT!" Everyone quickly sprinted out of the area. Tifa's face turned a deep shade of red as she tried to ignore the recent event and continued washing her hair.

-Somewhere Else-

"Sephiroth, you done putting on your close?" Another man with silver hair and pale green eyes asked. His silver hair ended right above his shoulder and his bangs were parted at the side, where his bangs covered his right eye. He looked almost a year younger than Sephiroth.

"Just finished Kadaj." Sephiroth replied.

"What happened anyways? You came back with your face red and a bruise on the side of your left cheek." Another silver haired man said. His silver hair is short and slightly spiky with sideburns. He had the same pale green eyes as Kadaj. He seemed to be the youngest of the group.

"None of your concern Loz." Sephiroth gave a short reply.

"Aw come one, something interesting happened didn't it?" Loz had a sly smile and winked.

Sephiroth glared at him from the corner of his eyes as he grabbed his long sword, Masamune.

Loz held his hands up in a defensive way. "Whoa, whoa. I'm sorry, sorry!"

Sephiroth set his sword back down and smirked.

"Let's just rest for tomorrow's journey." Another silver haired man with pale green eyes suggested. His silver was almost as long as Sephiroth's, but instead, it stopped at his mid-back. He seemed to be the second youngest of the group.

"Yeah, good idea Yazoo." Kadaj said as everyone nodded in agreement. The four men were brothers, each having silver hair and green eyes. They looked similar already, because of their hair and eyes, but their all black outfits practically made them look like clones.

Everyone laid on the ground and near the fire as they drifted to sleep, restoring their energy for tomorrow's journey.

-Tifa and Friend's Campsite-

Tifa approached the campsite and everyone was still awake, sitting around the fire.

"So Ti—"

"Shut it Zack, before you get into more trouble." Tifa warned as she glared and laid on the ground next to Nanaki. She glanced at Cloud, who was on the other side of the fire. Her face immediately turned red, but luckily she was next to the fire, so that it looked like the fire was illuminating off of her face.

"Um, how about we all just go to sleep and rest for tomorrow journey. Aerith suggested with a sweet smile. Everyone agreed and eventually drifted to sleep.

* * *

**Alright, there's chapter 7! :)**

**QUICK UPDATE!**

**SO HAPPY! :D**

**lol i was able to update within the same week ^^ yay~!**

**So i hope you guys like this one :) tell me what you think! ^^**

tatoo26**: :O omg! get your inhaler! i'm glad this story made you feel better though, but is that even possible? o.O but i'm gad you like it. Hope this chapter makes you feel better :) Haha yeahh i got like 3 -5 messages about what buhay means lol**

Tifa4Buhay**: Oh wow. I got like three messages from you. lol it's not a bad thing, but wow. And they're so enthusiastic lol! don't worry, they won't be just friends haha. yeahh i found out what buhay meant lol. if i had know buhay was a tagalog word, i would've just asked my friends lol like 50% of my friends are Filipino lol.**

scoliosisr2d2**: lol I agree! Vincent is just oh so lovable ;] **

Eclipse Storywriter**: lol, i have a friend who's super quiet, but when you get her mad..."RUN!" lol ^^ haha right? i would so kill to be surrounded by those guys! :O**

fantasydreamer94**: Don't needa wait anymore, here's ch. 7! :D glad you liked chapter 6 lol**

**Thanks to everyone that reviewed and read! :D**

**hop you guys all enjoy chapter 7! ^^**

_**- sportiegrl out~**_**  
**


	8. Chapter 8: Love and Remembrance

**Disclaimer: Final Fantasy VII and characters are property of Square Enix.**

**_I Promise_ is property of sportiegrl/Justine Tran.**

**Enjoy! :D  
**

**Chapter 8: Love and Remembrance**

"They're back!" The villagers shouted as they ran through Gongaga Village to inform everyone of Tifa, Vincent, and Zack's arrival.

"Well, shall we go greet them Cid?" Shera asked with a cheerful smile.

"Guess so." Cid said as one corner of his lip moved upward into a slanted smile. He stood from his chair and walked to the door with Shera behind him. They walked to the village entrance as Shera trailed behind him a few steps away. He stopped and turned to her, causing her to stop and stare at him in wonder. He scoffed, "Geez, if we're gonna walk together, at least walk next to me instead of trailing behind me like a stalker." He rolled his eyes and held out his hand as he looked away.

Shera grinned and grabbed his hand. "Aw, you're so cute."

His face tinted red a little and he grumbled. "Whatever."

Shera giggled, "Adorable."

Cid sneaked a glance at her and gave a small smile when he saw her cheerful face.

**-At The Entrance-**

Shouts of "welcome back" were heard as Tifa and her companions walked through the village entrance.

Cloud, Aerith, and Yuffie stood a foot or so away from the trio and Nanaki as they watched the scene before them in awe. It amazed them as they saw almost each person had their own fan club.

"Nanaki!" Kids yelled as they ran to Nanaki to pet him. He gave a roar of happiness as the little kids gave him his needed attention.

Guys surrounded Tifa as she greeted every one of them. "Tifa how was your trip?" Someone asked.

"Did you need a bodyguard with you?" Another one wondered.

"If anyone's gonna be Tifa's bodyguard, it's gonna be me!" Piped another.

"I'm stronger and better looking so it should be me!" And another. Soon after, many young men could be heard throughout the town arguing about who would be better suited as Tifa's bodyguard.

"C-calm down everyone." Tifa said as she tried to stop the arguing, but instead, they ignored her plea. Her brow twitched and her lips curved into an irritated smile. "I SAID CALM DOWN!" Every one of them stopped and turned to her with wide eyes. "…" She stayed quiet, waiting to see what would happen next.

"…" They remained there staring with wide eyes.

"…"

"So… COOL!" Someone said with an amazed look. "I haven't heard Tifa yell at us like that in a long time!" He said with a mesmerized expression.

"Yeah!" Someone else cheered.

"That's our Tifa! Strong and a beauty!" Piped another. Soon, the group of guys began cheering in excitement and crowded closer around Tifa.

"Uh…" was all that came out of her mouth. She turned behind her and looked at Vincent with a look of help.

Vincent sighed and took a step forward but paused when he heard Zack's voice.

"I'll help too."

Vincent looked at him through the corner of her eyes. "I can handle it by myself."

"Well I wanna _send a message_ to them." Zack smirked.

Vincent gave him a small glare. "No."

Zack's smirk widened. "Well too bad." And he stepped toward the crowd.

Vincent gave a small growl. "Help, but NO message." He gave a warning look.

Zack shrugged. "Don't know if I can keep that promise." He stood about a foot away from the crowd and cleared his throat, making sure to gain everyone's attention before speaking. He crossed his arms and put his weight on his left foot as he titled his head while giving them a dangerous smile. "Please stop crowding around what's _mine_."

The crowd's eyes widened as they gulped. They then turned their attention to Vincent as he walked forward and stopped next to Zack. Vincent narrowed his red eyes at them as he crossed his arms; watching as every single one of their faces quickly paled. He moved forward and the crowd split; creating a pathway for him as he walked made his way to Tifa. He put an arm around Tifa and he led her back towards their friends. Once he reached Zack, he turned his head to the left and looked at them over his shoulder, "Leave." His glare hardened at them. Every single one of their faces turn as white as a blank sheet of paper and not a second later did they all turn and run back to where they came from.

Yuffie whistled. "Nice."

"Wow…" Aerith said in awe.

'_Don't wanna get on his bad side.'_ Cloud made a mental note to himself.

Zack threw his head back and laughed. "That was a good one!" He turned and grinned at Vincent and Tifa.

"Haha, yeah it was. I haven't seen Vincent's death look in a while." Tifa grinned.

Vincent grunted and crossed his arms. "Whatever." He glared at Zack, "And what do you mean she's _yours_?"

"Exactly what it means." Zack threw an arm around Tifa's shoulders and gave a wide grin. He turned his head toward Tifa and gave her a cheeky grin. "You wouldn't mind being mine would you?"

Tifa opened her mouth, "I—"

"ZACK~!" Shouts from girls were heard as the group turned around and saw a crowd of girls run over.

Tifa giggled and gave Zack a smirk. "Seems like your fan girls are here~" She teased in a singsong voice.

Zack shrugged and smiled. "I'll show you my gentlemanly skilled." He gave her wink.

Tifa giggled and rolled her eyes. "Or the skills of a player." She teased as she stuck her tongue out.

"Ouch. That hurt. That really hurt." He faked a hurt look as he brought his hand to his heart. Tifa just shook her head and laughed.

"Here Zack, I baked you some bread." A girl said as she brought a basket of freshly baked bread to his face.

"Oh yeah? I have cookies!" A batch of cookies was pushed to him from another girl.

"My cookies are better!" And there was another one.

"Oh yeah? Well—"

"Ladies, ladies, please calm down." Zack said as he flashed them a charming smile that caused all the girls to swoon over him even more. "Thank you for all your presents. I love them all." The girls gave a loud and excited squeal as they handed him the baskets of baked goods and quickly went back to where they came from while squealing in excitement. He held the baskets in his arms and turned to Tifa with a smirk. "Not bad huh?" He winked. Zack shifted the baskets to his left hand; allowing his right one to be free and wrap around Tifa's shoulders.

Vincent's red eyes narrowed at Zack's actions.

Cloud looked at the ground and saw a rock in front of his foot.

"So back to the question Tifa, will you—OUCH!" Zack put a hand on the sore spot on his head. "What the hell was that?" His brows furrowed in anger and irritation. He turned around and looked at the ground; seeing a pebble that was a little bigger than average, one that could be counted as a rock.

"…" Everyone went silent.

Zack quickly turned and pointed at Vincent, "You threw it didn't you? You're the only one that's here that would!"

"As much as I wished it was me who threw the rock at your empty head, I didn't do it."

"Liar!"

"I'm serious you idiot." He furrowed his brows and narrowed his eyes in a dangerous glare.

Zack gulped. When he saw that look; he KNEW Vincent was serious and pissed off and if he pissed Vincent off a little more—he was gonna be six feet under the next day. Zack put his hands up defensively, "Alright, alright, I believe you." He sighed and put a hand on his injury. "If it wasn't you, then who was it?"

"Perhaps someone kicked it and hit you by accident." Cloud suggested.

"Hm…" Zack put a finger on his chin.

"Well best not to think about it all day." Tifa put a hand on his shoulder. "Besides too much thinking for you might hurt your brain." Everyone besides Vincent and Zack laughed—well, Vincent did put a hand over his mouth and chuckle a little. Boy did they have fun teasing him, especially Tifa.

"Hey! Rude!"

"Haha! I'm kidding!" She couldn't control her laughter.

Aerith shifted her gaze to Cloud; her eyes had a saddening look. _'It was you that kicked the rock Cloud. Why?'_

"What's going on here?" A deep voice asked. The group turned to the voices.

"Considering how Tifa can't stop laughing, Vincent chuckling, and Zack looking irritated…I believe that they were teasing Zack like usual." A melodic voice replied.

"Papa! Mama!" Tifa shouted with enthusiasm as she ran to hug them, which they returned.

"Hey kiddo." Cid had a soft smile. "What 'bout you Vincent? No warm hug?"

Vincent shifted his eyes away.

"Oh Vincent, come over here and give Papa and Mama a hug."

"…"

"Vincent." Shera gave him a smile, but right away, one could tell that the smile actually meant, 'you better do as I say or else.' The smile even made Cid shiver and Vincent even took a subconscious step back, creating a bigger distance between them. "Won't you come over and give us a hug?" Her smile became wider, but her aura became deadlier. The obvious translation for her sentence was, 'Come give us a hug or else I'll make sure no one will remember you.'

Vincent shifted his eyes and took a few small steps forward.

"Oh hurry up Vincent, I won't hurt you." Real translation, 'If you don't hurry up I'll make sure you'll be bed ridden for the next month.' Boy was she a scary lady when she was mad.

Vincent nodded and walked a little faster and gave them a hug. "It's good to be back."

"See, there's nothing wrong with a hug." Shera's deadly smile changed to a warm one.

"Yep!" Tifa exclaimed.

Nanaki gave a roar of agreement. He gave another as Cid and Shera bent down to pet him and welcome him back.

"Now then." Cid stood and turned his attention to Cloud, Aerith, and Yuffie. "Who the hell are you guys?"

"Cid! Don't be so rude!" Shera scolded. "Sorry, don't mind him. He can be so unbearable at times. May I ask who you three are?" She gave them a polite smile.

"I'm Aerith." She greeted with a polite smile. "We're from the AVALANCHE group in Wutai."

"I'm Yuffie!" Yuffie said enthusiastically.

Cloud stepped forward and bowed. "I'm Cloud."

Cid and Shera froze at his name. They exchanged glances and looked at Tifa. Tifa looked at them with a soft smile, answering their questioning looks.

"W-well, nice to meet you all." Shera smiled. "I'm Shera, Tifa's mom."

"Cid, leader of AVALANCHE." The trio nodded. Cid stepped towards Cloud. He couldn't believe it—the person that was "his" little girls' first friend was really alive. Out of the 444 people that were killed that night, he actually survived.

Cloud wondered why this man he just met kept on walking closer and closer to him. He looked up at Cid, who was probably an inch or two taller than him. He noticed that this man smelt of tobacco and had short, unshaved facial hair. He was slightly tanned, but they both had the same hair and eye color.

"Hm…" Cid began. He rubbed his chin, "I guess she was right. We do have the same hair and eye color."

"…" Cloud gave him a confused look. "Who was right?"

"Hm?" Cid turned and shrugged. "Nobody."

Cloud gave an irritated look. Geez—what a way to keep someone thinking.

"Well how about we go to the house and talk about the mission." Cid said as he made his way back home with every one of them following him.

**-Cid's House-**

"So basically your mission is to help out the families in the slums. While you're doing that, I want you to keep tabs on what happens around Midgar. This section here," Cid pointed his finger at the circled spot on the map of Midgar. "Is called Sector 7. ESPECIALLY keep tabs on this part. We want to know what exactly happens there. Get as much info as you can. We'll have someone be a messenger between us; I'll send him when you're settled." He saw as they nodded their head in understanding. "Now, rules—don't do anything stupid, don't involve innocents, don't be rash, don't get killed, and don't leave ANYONE behind. Got it?"

"Yes sir." They all replied.

"Good." He sat in his chair. "Now I'm pretty sure all of you are tired so Zack, go home and you three," He directed his attention to Cloud, Aerith, and Yuffie. "I have three rooms set up for you at the Inn. It's just down the road and says 'INN', you can't miss it and if you do, then you're just stupid or blind."

"…" The three of them stayed silent, but man was he harsh or what.

"Just go inside and say you're part of AVALANCHE and they'll take you to your rooms." Cid waited for a nod. "Now, you don't have to have your guard up in this village. Everyone in Gongaga is a member of AVALANCHE, since the group did start in this village. So you guys can lower your guard if you want." They gave another nod. "Well what you waiting for? Aren't you gonna go get some rest? You guys leave tomorrow at sunrise." He gave them an annoyed look.

"Y-yes sir!" Yuffie shouted as she quickly ran out the door in fear. Man, he might not be as big as Barret, but he was DEFINITELY scarier than him—no wonder why Vincent wasn't that scared when he met Barret.

"Goodnight everyone." Aerith bowed and walked out the door with Cloud following her.

"See you guys tomorrow!" Zack grinned and whistled as he made his way home.

"Well I'm off to bed." Tifa said as she walked to her room.

"Same here. Nights." Vincent said as he made his way to his own room as well.

"Cid…you were pretty harsh to them don't you think?" Shera said with a disapproving look.

"Well I'm just getting them prepared for Midgar. Not everyone is always so cheerful, especially in Midgar. In Midgar; they're even meaner than I am, they'll pick fights as much as possible, rob anyone they see—it's a crazy place that's filled with killers and thieves." He said with a sigh.

"True." Shera nodded. "But tomorrow, be kinder to them. It's gonna be a while until you see any of them." Her eyes lowered with sadness.

Cid sighed. "Don't remind me. Oh yeah, aren't we gonna go give them their gifts?"

Shera's face immediately lit up. "Oh! I nearly forgot! Let's go to Vincent first!" She quickly ran to their room to grab their presents and came back to the table that Cid was sitting at. She put them on the table and Cid picked up Vincent's wrapped gift.

"I hope he likes it!" Shera said with an excited look.

Cid nodded in agreement with a slanted smile. "Well let's go see him before he falls asleep." Cid walked to his room with Shera.

_Knock. Knock._

"Vincent, you awake?" Cid called out.

A low, "No," came from the other side of the door.

Cid's brows furrowed in irritation, "Why that lit—"

"No getting mad." Shera scolded.

"Fine." He grumbled and opened Vincent's door.

Vincent sat up from his bed and reached over to his table to light some candles. What exactly did they want? It was almost midnight and he had to wake up before dawn, so what was so important? Not only that, but wasn't Cid yelling at them moments ago to get a good night's rest? Geez he was a strange man.

Cid cleared his throat. "Before you can curse at me for waking you up," too late for that. "Shera and I got you something." He held up the present and handed it to Vincent.

Vincent moved his blankets and sat on the edge of his bed. He carefully unwrapped it and saw a unique sword. The sheath was normal, but had his name engraved on it. But what was unique about the sword was the hilt of the sword that was specially made—the very tip of the hilt had three separated dog heads facing left, on the left side of the dog heads were two claws like things, another two claw like thing was located a little lower than the first, and on the right side of the dog heads was a bat or vampire wing. The details were amazing and a little lower than the bat wing, directly below the dog heads were some strange patterns, which made even more impressive. He looked closely at the hilt and noticed that one side of the hit said the names; 'Grimoire' and 'Leina', while the other side said the names: 'Tifa', 'Cid', and 'Shera'. He also noticed that on the blade, on the same side of the names Grimoire and Leina, was the name 'VALENTINE'. On the other side of the blade, it said 'SIERRA'.

"Wow. This is…wow." Vincent was at a loss for words.

"The tip of the hilt, you know the crazy designs, is the symbol of the Dirge of Cerberus. It's pretty unique and I thought you would like it." Cid explained.

"Oh! And the names were my idea!" Shera said with a grin. "One side represents your birth family and the other side represents your new family."

Vincent put the sword back into its sheath and set it on his bed. "It's amazing. But why?"

Cid chuckled. "Is a reason really needed? Well if you really want to know, we got it for you as a gift for finally going out in the world. You're a man and you're ready to go on and journey around."

"But it's not really a journey; I'm just going on a mission to Midgar."

"Geez, stop making excuses. Fine, it's congratulation for going on your first AVALANCHE mission, happy?" Cid gave him an irritated look.

Vincent nodded. "Well, thanks." He gave a small smile.

"Aw~" Shera gave him a big bear hug. "He smiled, Cid! He really smiled!" She squealed in excitement.

"Okay Shera, let go. You're suffocating him." Cid said with a small laugh as he saw his wife act like a little girl that got a teddy bear and Vincent grasping for air.

Shera let go and grinned. "Well have a good sleep Vincent."

"Night kiddo."

"Nights." He said in a low voice and watched as they closed the door behind them. He took one last look at his sword and placed it on his table. _'Family.'_ He chuckled, _'What a weird family I have.'_ And he slowly drifted to sleep.

**-Tifa's Room-**

_Knock. Knock._

Tifa quickly changed into her night gown and threw her clothes under her bed; hiding it from plain site. "Come in." She said in a croaky voice to give the illusion that she was sleeping.

"Sorry to come in while you were sleeping." Cid said as he walked in and lit the candles in her room.

She shook her head and rubbed her eyes. "No problem." She gave her best fake yawn. She threw her blankets to the side and sat on the edge of her bed. "Did you guys want something?"

"Well we got you something." Shera said with an excited voice. She handed Tifa a small box.

She opened the box and saw a set of white teardrop earrings. "So pretty…" She said in awe as she held them in her hands.

"Here, I'll help you put them on." Shera walked to Tifa and took the new earrings, quickly wiping them with alcohol, and changed the sapphire earrings that Tifa had on with the white teardrop ones. Shera stepped back and clapped her hands. "Pretty!"

"Really?" Tifa asked with a grin.

"Yeah. Not bad." Cid grinned. "Oh yeah." Cid walked outside and came back in with two more presents. "Here." He said and handed them to her.

She opened the smaller gift first—a pair of leather gloves.

"It's for your hand-to-hand combat. If you use this, the recoil won't be as painful." Cid explained.

"Sweet." Tifa smiled and put the gloves on. "Just my size."

Cid nodded. "Now open the other one."

Tifa took off her gloves and set them on the table next to her bed. She grabbed the last gift and carefully unwrapped it. She was surprised to see a sword in her hands. On one side of the sheath, her name was printed in big letters, while on the other side had her family emblem and 'LOCKHART' engraved. The hilt of the sword had the Lockhart family emblem and similar to Vincent's sword; on one side of the hilt, it had the names 'Pellos' and 'Ting' while the other side of the hilt had the names; 'Cid', 'Shera', and 'Vincent'. She grabbed the hilt and unsheathed the sword—revealing the engraved blade; 'SIERRA' was written on one side and 'LOCKHART' was written on the other.

"Pellos and Ting, your father and mother's names on one side and our family's name is on the other." Cid explained.

"It looks similar to Papa's sword." She said in a voice above a whisper. She ran her fingers across the smooth blade, feeling the engraved words and the luster surface. Tears formed in her eyes, "Thank you." She said with a soft expression as she sheathed the sword and held it close to her.

"You don't have to hide the fact that you're the princess anymore." Cid paused. "Well actually, it'll be more convenient if you don't expose your identity…"

Tifa giggled. "We'll just see what happens." She grinned.

'_Has she always been this easy going and carefree?'_ Cid thought to himself. "You can't just wait and see what happens! It has to be planned!" He lectured.

"Okay, okay Cid. Calm down." Shera said as she sighed. "We'll let you rest for tomorrow. Goodnight." She smiled and pushed Cid out the door.

"Wait! I'm not—"

Shera closed the door before he could say anymore.

Tifa giggled and looked at her sword. _'Papa…Nibelheim…I'll definitely take down Shinra and Jenova.'_ Tifa's expression changed to a determined one as she put the sword on the table.

"Now then, time to get out of here." She quickly threw her gown on her bed and reached for her clothes under the bed and quickly put them on. She slid her window open and climbed out, making sure not to make any noise.

**-At The Inn-**

"Cloud, are you awake?" Aerith called to the other side of the door. She was thinking of how to ask Cloud why he kicked the rock a t Zack.

The door opened revealing a yawning Cloud that looked half asleep. "Yeah?"

"Oh you were sleeping?"

"Yeah, but I'm up now."

"Oh…" She shifted her gaze to the ground. "Never mind, I'll ask you later."

"You can just tell me now."

She shook her head. "N-no, sorry, just go back to sleep." She quickly walked back to her room. She obviously didn't know how to bring up the question that was stuck on her mind.

"…" Cloud shrugged and closed his door. He was about to crawl back into his bed until he heard a tapping noise at his window. "Who the heck can that be in the middle of the night?" He asked with an irritated voice. Why couldn't the people just let him sleep peace fully? He had to get up in four or five hours!

He walked over to his window only to see that Tifa was standing on the ledge of the window waiting for him to open it for her. "What the hell?" He quickly opened it and helped her inside.

"Geez, it took forever for me to find out which room was yours. I had to climb to every window that this Inn has and finally, window number 12 was yours." Tifa said with a grin.

Cloud sighed and lit a small candle. "Shouldn't you be at home sleeping?"

"Hmp. I came here just to see you and this is the thanks I get." She huffed and crossed her arms.

"Sorry." He was finally able to notice her features with the illuminating light. "Nice earrings."

"Thanks!" She grinned as she took a seat on his bed. "Just got them today."

"But…" He stepped closer to her and bent down towards her with his face a few inches from hers. He reached a hand forward and moved a stray strand of hair from her face. "Have you been crying?" His eyes never strayed from hers.

To Tifa, it felt as if he could see everything that was going through her mind when he looked at her like that. Her face slightly turned a pink color and looked to the side.

"You okay? You're face is turning a little red."

Tifa's face colored a little more. "Hey." She moved her eyes to look back at him. "I don't believe I ever gave you permission to get so close to me, Mis-ter Ser-vant." She smirked.

He moved back and bowed. "My apologies, Princess."

Tifa gave a small giggle. "Good. Now lay down on the bed."

Cloud's eyes widened. "W-what?"

She crossed her arms. "You heard me. Lay down." She pointed to the empty half of the bed.

Cloud gave a slow nod as he made his way to the bed and laid down. "Why did you want me to—"

Tifa huffed. "I didn't say to talk." She laid down next to him and grabbed the blanket, covering them both. She reached forward and grabbed the necklace that was hanging around his neck.

She gave a small smile as she held the necklace in her right hand.

"If you want the necklace I could ju—"

She pouted and put a soft finger on his lips. "Sh." She gave a content sigh.

Cloud laid there next to her and watched as she played with the necklace with a soft smile on her face. Her humming made the night more soothing and was like a melodic whisper to his ears. He liked how the small light from the candle bounced off of her and made her wine colored eyes brighter than they usually were.

"You know," She said in a soft whisper. "Cid Papa and Shera Mama were happy you made it out of the massacre alive."

"They know about me?"

"I told everyone in the Palace about you once I went back home." She closed her eyes. "We were supposed to play with the chocobos the next day." Her voice got quieter with every word. Her soft snores confirmed that she had fallen asleep.

Cloud reached over and ran a hand through her soft hair. He looked at her carefully and examined her features; her plump lips, her heart shaped face, long lashes, and every other feature she had.

He remembered what Zack had told him the night before. _"Tifa's the most beautiful girl in the village."_ Forget in the village, she was the most beautiful girl he every laid eyes on. He looked at her lips again—man did her wanna kiss her. Maybe he actually loved her.

"Love?" He asked in a low whisper. "That explains everything then." He said with a small smile. It explained why he was so annoyed whenever Zack put an arm around her, why he was so angry with the guy at the lake, and why he kicked the rock at Zack. It all finally made sense to him. But it could never happen. She was the princess and he was some random orphan. They can be together.

'_Besides, what if I'm the only one feeling this way?'_ He thought to himself. He sighed. _'Geez.' _

He looked at her and reached over to her left hand with his right hand. He entwined their finger as his arm laid across her body.

"Mmm…" The sound came from Tifa as she turned on her right side; bringing her entwined hand over and in the middle of them. She scooted closer to Cloud, seeking more warmth and buried her head deeper into the pillow as she gave a content sigh.

Cloud chuckled. "I love you." He said in a soft whisper and slowly drifting into the most peaceful sleep he ever had.

* * *

**Alright! **

**There's chapter 8! Hope you guys like it! :)**

**Oh my gosh, it's been like i month since I updated! :O sorry! :(**

**Well it took me a week to write this chapter, ughhhh major brain fart :/**

**I got the name Ting, from me, my chinese name ;] since Tifa's mom is hinted to be chinese, hence the chinese characters in chapter 1 :D**

**and Leina, i absolutely love that name. haha so i used it :D **

meatbunluver**: Haha i'm glad you like this! :D thanks for adding me and my story on your favorite's list :D P.S love your name! haha i love eating meat buns x] **

tatoo26**: It's good your asthma is getting better :D Oh...uhh...your dog is like Nanaki ;] lol Cloud is very similar to Vincent though! or is it just me that thinks like that? ****Oh gosh something happened to me this past friday that was similar to Tifa's scene in the lake *sigh* long story short, people at school saw my half naked. :( **

Tifa4Buhay**: Okay...i love how you're so pro Tifa and Cloud...but you needa tone it down a bit...sorry. Tifa and Cloud ARE gonna be together, kinda obvious since it's in the Tifa and Cloud section...if it was an Aerith story then i wouldn't have put it in the Tifa section. I'm not trying to be mean, but i'm getting wayyy to many emails of you saying you want a Tifa and Cloud story and you don't want a Aerith and Cloud story; which you don't need to worry about. -_- I'm glad you like the competition thing and lake scene though. So i hope you like this chapter. :) Don't take any of this to the butt! I just want you to kinda tone it down a bit with the Aerith and Cloud issue and Tifa and Cloud issue. Like i said earlier, don't trip. you'll be happy with the results. :)  
**

Eclipse Storywriter**: Haha i thought of it more of a love pentagon ;] add in Aerith lol Oh gosh if you think this is complicated, my Inuyasha x Kikyo story is like a love hexagon LOL oh goshh i like how everyone loves that lake scene with Tifa haha.**

fantasydreamer94**: Yes, yes a tattoo. :) i actually have a friend who got a tattoo for her 16th. and I LOVE IT! lol but i'm still iffy if i want a tattoo. although like 6 of my friends agreed that if i decide to get one, they're gonna go with me and record the whole process. -_-**

**Welllll that's it for this update!**

**Thanks again everyone! :D**

**Hope you liked this chapter!**

**_-sportiegrl out~_  
**


	9. Chapter 9: Beginning of a Journey

**Disclaimer: Final Fantasy VII and characters is property of Square Enix.**

**Chapter 9 is here! Obviously :)**

**Enjoy!  
**

**Chapter 9: Beginning of a Journey**

Tifa opened her eyes and squinted as the sunlight hit her in the face. _'Ugh, it's morning already.'_ She moved a little and noticed an arm resting across her body. _'What the…'_ She sat up, looked over to her right side, and saw a head of blonde hair. Suddenly, realization of the previous night came to her. _'Oh my god!'_ She screamed in her mind as she leaned too far off the edge of the bed and fell on the ground with a loud thud. A small groan of annoyance came from the man that was previously sleeping on the bed. A small ruffling sound was heard as Tifa saw the sheets moving.

Cloud groaned in annoyance as he heard the loud noise that woke him up from his relaxing sleep. He sat up and noticed the body that was supposed to be next to him was missing. He crawled over to the edge of the bed and looking down, seeing Tifa laying on the floor with discomfort. He found it slightly amusing to see her jaw drop with shock and those wine colored eyes widen. He propped an elbow on the bed and put his head in his hand with a smirk. "So did you roll out of bed while you were sleeping? Or were you actually clumsy enough to trip while getting out of bed?"

She sat up and gave an annoyed look as she furrowed her brows. "Haha, very funny." She rubbed her bottom and said a small "ow" as she stood up. Tifa looked out of the window and then gave a loud groan as she put her hands on her head.

Cloud raised a brow. "What?"

"I wasn't supposed to spend the night! I was supposed to just hang out and then leave. Papa and Mama are gonna be so furious!"

Cloud sat up and shrugged, "You were tired and it was past midnight, of course you would be fall asleep. Hey, I'm surprised you actually woke up right at sunrise."

Tifa sighed. "Well, I gotta rush back home. I'll see you in a bit." She opened the window and climbed out. She gave a quick wave and smile as she closed the window and climb down the building.

Cloud sighed. "I need more sleep." He muttered to himself as flopped back onto the bed.

**-Tifa-**

Tifa panted as she reached for the door to her house. The sprint from the Inn to the house was pretty tough in her opinion. She pulled the door open and walked into the kitchen, seeing Shera at the stove already making breakfast and Cid walking in as he was putting on his shirt.

"So where have you been for the last hour?" Shera asked with a sly smile.

"Jogging." Tifa said as she bent over a little to catch some air. _'Luckily I stopped by the well and splashed some water on me really quick.'_

"For an hour?" Cid raised a brow as he took a seat in his chair.

"Wow, an hour?" She walked over to Shera as Shera handed her a full cup of water. "Guess I didn't notice the time pass by so quickly." She shrugged and swallowed a large gulp water, finishing half of the cup.

"Well, glad you got your exercise, not go wake up Vincent. I don't know how you do it Tifa. That kid, no matter how much _I_ try to get him up, he just won't budge." Cid said with an annoyed sigh.

Tifa gave a laugh, "I got this." She winked as she brought her half full cup with her to Vincent's room. She slowly opened the door and looked around. "Dang, this place needs some light." She muttered to herself as she looked at the almost completely dark room. She walked over to the left wall and slid the curtains open, bringing a great amount of sunlight into the room. A small groan of annoyance could be heard coming from Vincent as he pulled the blankets over his head.

"Wakey, wakey Mr. Vampire." She said in a singsong voice.

A grumble was all that he gave.

"Vincent," Tifa put the cup down on the table, "wake up." She said as she tried shaking him awake.

"Ugh." He turned over onto his side.

"Vincent." She said in a slightly louder voice.

An irritated grumble was heard as he tried going deeper under his covers.

"Okay~ you asked for it." Tifa grabbed the cup and poured the half empty cup all over Vincent.

"AH!" He jolted upright as he felt the cold liquid seep through his blankets and onto his skin and clothing. "What the—" He looked at his soaked clothes and gave Tifa a deadly look. "Tifa…" He said in a warning tone.

She slowly backed away. "Well…" She put her hands up and in a 'surrendering' manner, "I _tried_ to get you up, but you just wouldn't budge so I…bye!" She turned around and tried running away, but she wasn't quick enough to escape from Vincent's room.

Vincent quickly flung his blankets out of his way and jumped at Tifa, tackling her to the ground. He rolled her over and pinned her to the ground.

Tifa gave a small squeal as she found herself pinned. She looked up and gave an innocent grin. "Sorry?"

He smirked. "Not gonna work this time."

"Geez, no fair!" She pouted.

Vincent couldn't help but notice how cute she looked when she made that pouting face and when she pursed her lips like that. The way she grinned and how the light danced in her eyes. He just couldn't understand how she could be so amazing—with her beauty, intelligence, strength, and caring character—how was it that someone could be so…wow.

Tifa looked up at him and noticed that Vincent was in a little trance of his own. She was about to open her mouth to snap him out of it, but the look he had in his eyes made her freeze. It was such a deep look that was simply too hard for her to describe. Not once has she noticed how deep his red eyes were, until now. She slowly turned from his eyes and looked at his other features that she didn't really notice before. She thought it was kind of attractive as to the way his slightly wet hair clung to the side of his face. She trailed her eyes down his neck and to his chest. _'Wow…'_ She thought to herself as she saw his chest. The top three buttons to his sleeping shirt were undone and she could see how built he was. The water that she splashed on him only made his shirt cling to his muscular build even more. _'Has he always been this built?'_ She trailed her eyes back to his face, _'and this good looking?'_ She blushed at the thought.

Tifa cleared her throat as she tried to get out of this now awkward position. "Vincent." She called out.

Vincent snapped out of his thoughts and looked down at her. "What?"

"You've been uh…pinning me down for a while now." She said as she turned her head to the side—slightly embarrassed to look at him in the eyes.

"Oh." He rolled off of her and sat on the ground.

"Well…" Tifa stood up, "I'm gonna go wash up and eat. Don't just sit there all day now; we have a long trip ahead of us." She said with wink as she walked out the room and shut the door behind her.

Vincent sat still on the floor and put a hand over his mouth. "Geez, what was I doing?" He muttered to himself as his face turned a little pink.

Tifa walked out to the back of the house and fetched some water from the well to wash her face. She splashed water on her face and looked at her blushing reflection. _'What was that?'_ She yelled in her mind as she tried to get the recent event that wouldn't stop her face from turning red out of her thoughts.

"Tifa!" Shera called out to her from the doorway.

"Yes?"

"Hurry up and come eat! You need all the food you can get!"

"Okay!" She quickly poured out the water and headed back inside the house.

Tifa sat down in her chair and Vincent sat in his rightful chair as well. She tried her best to avoid eye contact to prevent her face from turning red once again.

"So kids—"

"Hey guys!" Zack flung the door open and his voice boomed through the house, cutting off Cid from what he was gonna say. "Guess who I found on the way here?" He moved out of the way and in stepped Yuffie, Aerith, and Cloud.

"What a surprise." Vincent said in a sarcastic voice.

Zack gave him a quick glare, "Well anyways, they didn't eat yet either so I thought I would bring them here for food." He said with a grin.

Cid raised a brow, "First, you come barging into my house and interrupting me from what I was gonna say and now you're inviting people to eat at MY house?"

"Yup!" He gave a wink and a charming smile.

"What if we don't have enough food?"

"But Mrs. Sierra always has extra food for outsiders just in case!" Zack insisted.

"That's true Cid." Shera said with a grin as she set plates for their guests.

Cid turned to his food and grumble to himself—saying something along the lines "rude, unrespectful brat" and "one day I'll give that kid the worst beat down…"

Tifa giggled as she heard Cid's complaints. She smiled at Yuffie, Aerith, and Cloud as they sat down across from her at the table and as Zack slid into the seat on her right.

"Wow Mrs. Sierra, this looks amazing!" Yuffie said with glee as she looked at the rice and fried fish on her plate.

"Well dig in then." Shera said with a smile as she took her seat next to Cid and began eating her breakfast.

After breakfast, Tifa and Vincent went to their rooms and came back with their bag for the journey. With that, all of them walked from the house to the entrance of the village, where the villagers were waiting to see them off.

Yells and cries of "Tifa" came from the guys, "Zack" cries came from the girls, while "Nanaki" cries came from the kids.

Cid smirked as he nudges Vincent. "And aren't you Mr. Loner over here, with no fans."

Vincent turned and gave an equal smirk. "I'm not the only one without a fan club Mr. No Fans."

Cid turned and grumbled to himself once again with something along the lines of "stupid, take everything to the butt, gotta one up me brat."

After Tifa, Zack, and Nanaki's fans left, everyone said goodbye to the other villagers. The villagers wished them for a safe journey and that they would come home safe and sound.

"Well, now that all the villagers are gone, we wanted to wish all of you a safe trip." Cid said as Shera nodded her head with a sweet smile. "I'm not gonna sugarcoat anything for you guys. Midgar is a tough area—thievery, murder, fights—you'll hav to deal with all of those over here. So helping the slums and finding info on Sector 7 will be a hard task. Just don't give up and eventually, we'll be able to take down Jenova and ShinRa." The group nodded in understanding. "Don't forget that you're all each other have, so don't turn your back on one another and remember—none of you are getting left behind."

"Yes sir."

"Zack."

"Yes sir?"

Cid had a slanted smile. "You may be a pain in the ass,"

"Gee, thanks."

Cid sighed, "You need to listen before replying! As I was saying, you may be a pain in the ass, but I trust you enough to let you go on this mission and I know you won't disappoint me."

Zack grinned. "Thanks!" He went up to Cid and gave him a big hug.

"Okay, okay, let go." After all these years, Cid was still a man that wasn't good with affection. "Cloud, Aerith, and Yuffie."

"Yes sir." They said in unison.

"I honestly don't know you all at all, but you were recommended greatly from Barret. And I trust his judgment, I'll I'm putting my trust in you three as well."

Cloud gave a smirk, Aerith gave a wide smile, and Yuffie gave a huge grin and a perky "Yes sir!"

"Nanaki." Cid bent down as the red lion stepped forward. "Be good and remember; attack and protect."

Nanaki roared in reply and Cid pet him on the head with a smirk on his lips.

"Vincent."

Vincent nodded.

"You'll always be a part of this family. No matter what happens, you're always welcome back."

"I thought that was given." He replied with a smirk.

Cid smirked. "Yeah, and if you don't stop being so damn cheeky with me, maybe you won't be allowed back!"

"Well we can't figure that out until I get back right?" Vincent cocked his head to the side as his smirk grew wider.

Cid nodded with a slanted smile. "Yeah." He turned to Tifa. "Now, you're turn."

"Well, what do you have for me?" She asked with a grin.

He put a hand on her head and gave a soft smile. "Don't forget where you come from, ever."

Tifa gave a slow nod as a look of determination found its' way to her eyes. She gave a smirk to match her determined eyes, "Definitely."

Cid dropped his hand and turned to the group with serious look. "This is goodbye, but you all better come back. And now is the beginning of your journey." He said with a smile that a leader would give to inspire and raise the hopes of his people.

* * *

**Alright!**

**Here's chapter 9! :D**

**hope you guys liked it x]**

**sorry it's so short! i kinda ran out of ideas :( haha nad i've been so off track. So turns out i wasn't gonna be as busy as i thought these past few weeks and i COULD have updated but...i was too busy being a lazy person and watching tv x] but at least i finally updated right? :D**

**Okay, sooo if there's errors, i'm sorry :/**

**oh snapppppp Cloud flirty? o.O**

**Vincent and Tifa! :O  
**

MyNumberXIII, lamia316, Headtothesky, Chibi Emo-chan, iceQueen02, Tifa4Buhay, x102reddragon, Cdgirl**: Firstly, wow...i've never got this many fave story alerts before! :O Thanks guys! :D and **Cdgirl**, haha i'm a fan of your username x] i love CD's takes me back to the 90s when i would go to class and play with my CD player x] good times lol ^^**

Headtothesky, iceQueen02, x102reddragon, LadyJamie178**: Thanks for the story alert add as well! :D**

iceQueen02**: Dang...you just added me on everything huh? o.O haha well thanks for the fave author and author alert as well ^^**

Chibi Emo-Chan**: Haha, well youi don't have to be upset anymore, i finally updated :D Thank you! ^^**

tatoo26**: haha i liked Vincent and Zack's moment as well x] you're vacation is over already? mine just started! :O danggg. awww well hope you find some time! p.s **Our Own Fairytale** is updated if you haven't found out ;] chapter 10 came out a while ago. :)**

Tifa4Buhay**: Glad you liked last chapter! Hope you like this one as well :)**

fantasydreamer94**: Oh why i'm glad you lied it :) haha sweet i was trying for the shifting thing and was hoping it turned out all right ^^ oh well the bed thing...that's explained in this chapter right? :D if not...then woops... :O well it was just that she was tired lol imean it WAS past midnight and they did just get home from a long journey. heck if i was her i would knock out like that x] loll well about the tattoo thing, i'm still iffy. haha my mom wants a new one for herself though. Well i'm just kinda afraid like what if i don't want it anymore in the future? removing is painful TT^TT**

Eclipse Storywriter**: haha i know right? ughhh unemotional characters are too hard to write ;( ahahaha yes yes cloti fluff lol ohhh what if Tifa loses? :O ohh ok thanks! i used **"laying" **is that correct or no? ughh i hate that word :(****  
**

**Well... i honestly don't know when i'll be updating lol but the updates might be faster since i'm on break :) but it will just depend on how lazy i'm being x]**

**well hope you guys liked it! **

**Thanks everyone! :D**

**until next time!**

**_- sportiegrl out~_  
**


	10. Ch 10:Chocobos & Lucrecia's Crystal Cave

**Disclaimer: Final Fantasy VII and characters are property of Square Enix.**

**_I Promise_ is property of sportiegrl/Justine Tran**

**Enjoy! :)  
**

**Chapter 10: Chocobos & Lucrecia's Crystal Cave**

"So where are we headed?" Yuffie asked as they walked through the clearing to their unknown destination.

"Well, we need to head northeast to Costa del Sol to get a ship from the docks." Vincent instructed as he held the map up in front of him.

"Mm…no can do." Zack responded.

"Why?" Vincent raised a brow. "What's wrong with Costa Del Sol?"

"Jenova has control of Costa Del Sol." Zack explained. "Besides, she made the docks limited only for shipping resources and soldiers back and forth. The only way to get on the boat is if we disguise ourselves, but that's only gonna work if we have passports saying that we're people of Shinra or Jenova."

"Shit." Vincent cursed to himself. "That makes our three day trip into a week long trip. We have to head up north—past the ruins of Nibelheim to Rocket Town. Once we get to Rocket Town, we take the boat from there to Midgar." Vincent stated and put the map away.

"Nibelheim…hey isn't that where you came from Cloud?" Yuffie asked as she nudged Cloud in his arm.

Cloud nodded. "Yeah." He glanced at Tifa, seeing if there was any change in her expression. Tifa simply stared ahead with her head held high. The look in her eyes seemed to say that she was deep in thought.

"Hey, little Tifa no talkie walkie or something?" Zack asked in a baby voice and grinned as he slung his left arm over her shoulders. "Come on, why aren't you—ouch!" Zack cried in pain as a rock suddenly hit him square in the back. "Who did that?" He yelled as everyone turned to the man walking behind him—Cloud.

Yuffie grinned and chuckled in amusement. "Maybe rocks are just attracted to you Zack." Zack shot her a glare as Tifa gave a light giggle.

"Sorry, I was kicking the rock while walking and I guess I kicked it too hard." Cloud said with a shrug as he put his hands in his pockets.

"No problem." Zack muttered as he turned back around.

'_Interesting.'_ Vincent thought to himself as he looked forward. Aerith snuck a look at Cloud with a saddening look.

Cloud caught her look. "What? Something wrong?"

Aerith shook her head and gave him a small smile. "No, nothing's wrong."

He responded with a suspicious look and shrug. "Okay…"

"It should take three days to get to Nibelheim, depending on how fast we go." Tifa stated.

"And you know this how?" Zack asked.

Tifa paused for a moment. Shit, she just set herself up. "…Before we got to Gongaga, we were gonna stop at Nibelheim, but the place was in ruins by the time we reached there. From there to Gongaga was a three day journey." Dang, that was her second lie that day. Tifa looked around and saw everyone except Cloud nodding their head and some saying "Oh." She gave a small sigh of relief, _'looks like they bought it.'_

"Kweh! Kweh!"

"Did you guys hear that or am I just going crazy?" Yuffie asked as she looked around.

"You're already crazy, but yeah I heard it." Vincent said with a smirk as he stood quietly to listen for the sound once again.

Yuffie shot him a look. "Very funny, but seriously guys; what was that?"

Tifa and Zack exchanged looks and shrugged.

"An animal?" Aerith suggested.

"Kweh! Kweh!"

"It's coming from the east." Vincent exclaimed as everyone started running towards the sound.

"Kweh! Kweh!"

Zack smirked. "Sound's getting closer and closer." The group stopped once they reached a clearing and stood in awe.

"Chocobos." Cloud stated.

"No, they're pigs." Vincent responded in a sarcastic tone. Cloud sent him a glare, while Vincent showed him a smirk. "This is perfect. If we get some chocobos, then it'll cut our week trip in half."

There was a whole field of chocobos in front of them. All were yellow except for two—one gold and one black one. "I call the gold one!" Tifa shouted with excitement.

"Damn!" Zack cursed. "I call the black one!" Of all the things to know about chocobos, it was that the gold chocobo was the rarest one around and the leader of the group. While the black one was basically the gold chocobo's right hand man.

"First of all, does anyone even have any gysahl greens? You all do know that if we don't have those, then we can't get a chocobo right?" Vincent asked.

"I actually have some." Aerith said with a smile as she reached into her pouch and pulled out a handful of gysahl greens—handing them to everyone.

"Perfect!" Yuffie exclaimed with a grin. "Time to go get me a chocobo!" She said with a determined look and ran off to the mob of chocobos.

Aerith shook her head and sighed. "That girl." She walked ahead and followed Yuffie. "Wait for me at least." She said with a pout.

Vincent stood off to side and observed the chocobos.

"What'cha doin?" Zack asked with a grin.

"Observing."

"Why?"

"Because I'm waiting to see which one I like the most."

"Oh…why don't you get the black one?"

Vincent raised a brow.

"Oh wait. I called the cool one and you can't have it." Zack folded his arms and laughed. "Sucks for you to have to—ow! Damn it!" He screamed as he held the back of his head. "What was that for?" He shot Vincent a look.

"Dunno. I think my hand just likes to hit idiots." Vincent swung his hand up and hit Zack on the head again.

"Ow! Stop that!"

"It's not me. It's the hand." Vincent smirked.

Zack glared at him and grumbled as he left to go claim his chocobo. Vincent stayed and observed the chocobos in front of him. During his observation, he noticed one chocobo was standing in a single spot and stayed staring at him. _'Interesting.'_ He thought to himself with a smirk. And thus, the staring contest began.

Tifa stood in front of the golden chocobo and stared into its eyes. A low growl came from the left of Tifa. "Nanaki…" Tifa warned. "No attacking the chocobos. They aren't for food." Tifa said with her eyes still locked with the golden chocobo's eyes. Nanaki gave a small whine as he lay on the ground.

"What are you doing?" A voice came from behind.

"Staring." Tifa simply stated without diverting her eyes.

"Why?" Cloud raised a brow as he walked to her side and looked back and forth from the chocobo and Tifa.

"Apparently, there's many different ways to tame a chocobo. First, people usually just saddle a chocobo up and force them to be their companion. Second, there's people that fight with the chocobo and have a hard time taming them. Third—tender, loving care. And fourth, there's the staring contest type." Tifa explained as her eyes were still in lock with the chocobo's.

"I see." Cloud nodded in understanding. "So what's staring contest?"

"The staring contest is usually used for taming bigger, prideful, strong chocobos. Since this guy is the leader of the pack, I'm using the staring contest. And so far he's…" Tifa paused as she suddenly saw the golden chocobo took a step back and lower its' head. "Finally backing down." Tifa finished with a triumphant grin. Tifa patted the chocobo and the head. "Good boy." She turned to Cloud. "Besides, winning the staring contest is a sign that the chocobo respects you as their rider."

""I see."

"Kweh!"

"Whoa!" Cloud shouted as he felt something run into his back. He turned around to see a chocobo staring back at him with a cheerful look.

"Kweh!" The chocobo sounded in a cheerful voice. The chocobo circled Cloud and seemed to have sniffed him as well. It moved its head forward nuzzled Cloud with its head against Cloud's cheek. "Kweh! Kweh!"

"Whoa. Hey, stop that." Cloud urged as he put his hands up to stop the chocobo from nuzzling his face even more.

Tifa laughed, "I think he likes you." She grinned.

Cloud groaned. "Well he needs to learn about personal space."

"Well, this is pretty rare."

"What is?"

"That a chocobo chooses its own rider."

"Is it?" Cloud raised a brow and put a hand on the chocobo's back when it finally stopped nuzzling Cloud's head.

Tifa nodded. "Chocobos rarely choose their rider. It's only a once in a lifetime thing."

Cloud turned back to his new chocobo and rubbed its head. "So, you chose me huh?"

"Kweh!"

Cloud smirked. "Spiky, how about that as your name?"

"Kweh! Kweh!" He bounced his head up and down in agreement.

Tifa giggled. "Oh, I love you."

Cloud froze and his eyes widened. He slowly turned to Tifa and gave her a shocked expression. He saw her facing her chocobo and petting it as it nuzzled is head against her cheek.

Tifa paused and noticed Cloud's eyes on her. "What is it?"

"…Earlier, you…" He trailed off.

"I what?" She raised a brow. "Oh! The 'I love you' thing!"

Cloud gave a slow nod.

Tifa froze for a moment and turned red as she brought her hand up to her mouth. She began shaking a little and a burst of laughter came from her. "Ha-ha! I'm sorry. I wasn't talking to you. I was saying that to Pel, my chocobo." Tifa grinned. "Oh, that probably made you feel awkward too huh? Sorry." Tifa apologized as she wiped a tear away and waited for her laughter to subside.

"Gee, thanks." Cloud muttered to himself.

"What was that?" She raised a brow.

"Nothing." He quickly said.

"Uh huh." She said in an untrusting voice. "So what did you name your chocobo?"

Cloud put a hand on the chocobo's head. "Spiky. And you named your Pel? After the king?"

"Sh. Not so loud." She whispered as she put a finger on her lips. She nodded and grinned. "Yup." She turned and looked at Pellos. He had his head held high as he looked over the other chocobos around. His golden feather slightly fluttered against his body as the breeze came by. In the sunlight, his golden coat seemed to shine and illuminate in an extraordinary way, giving him a look as if he was a chocobo from a royal family. "He's very much like a dignified, respected, and strong king—like my father."

Cloud nodded. "Yeah, he was."

Tifa looked back and forth from Cloud to Spiky and began laughing.

"What's so funny?" He raised a brow.

"Cloud! Your hair looks like a chocobo! That's probably why Spiky liked you so much at first glance." She grinned.

"Ha-ha. Very funny." He grumbled.

She grinned. "Why yes, yes it is."

"Hey! Tifa! Cloud!" Yuffie's voice could be heard throughout the flock of chocobos. "You guys done?"

"Let's go back before Yuffie starts thinking we got kidnapped or something."

Tifa laughed and nodded. She put the saddle over Pel's back and hopped on, while Cloud followed in suit. They saw Yuffie, Aerith, and Vincent all saddled on their chocobos waiting for them.

"Where's Zack?" Tifa asked. Vincent simply pointed to the flock of the chocobos.

"Hey! Stop running damn it! Just let me tame you already!" Zack shouted as he chased after the black chocobo.

"KWEH!" It shouted and ignored Zack's plea.

"Damn it! That's it!" Zack yelled as he launched himself from the ground and jumped onto its back. He quickly wrapped his arms around the chocobo and held on as tight as he could while the chocobo tried to shake him off. "Arg!" He grit his teeth and held on. Finally, after a few moments, the black chocobo caved to Zack's will. "Yeah! That's right! I'm so beast!" He shouted while pumped a fist in the air with a grin on his face. He quickly saddled the black chocobo and rode over to his friends.

"Hn, of course an idiot like you would have trouble taming a chocobo." Vincent said with a smirk.

"Shut up." Zack shot him a glare.

"So what did you guys name your chocobos?" Tifa asked with a grin.

"Chaos." Vincent said.

"Should have named it Vampire after you." Zack said with a smirk.

Vincent rolled his eyes as Chaos's eyes narrowed at Zack. "KWEH!" It screeched.

Vincent smirked. "I guess Chaos doesn't like idiots either." Zack shot him a look and grumbled.

"Well~" Yuffie said in a singsong voice. "I named my Materia!"

"…Materia…?" Tifa gave her an unbelieving look. "What's Materia?"

"Materia! It's in the legends that my dad told me. It's supposed to be something that gives you magic powers." Yuffie squealed in excitement.

"And Yuffie is obsessed with the legends about Materia." Aerith said with a teasing smile.

"Hmp." Yuffie pouted. "Well at least I didn't name my chocobo after an ancient civilization from the legends." She stuck her tongue out at Aerith.

"And what would that be?" Zack asked with an interested look.

"Cetra." Aerith said with an embarrassed smile.

"Hm…I kinda like that name better than 'Materia." Tifa grinned. Cloud and Vincent nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, same here." Zack nodded.

"Hey! Rude!" Yuffie shouted. Yuffie turned to Zack. "Fine then Mr. Got Rejected By A Chocobo, what did you name yours?"

Zack looked at his chocobo and put a finger on his chin. "Hm…how about Ang?"

"Kweh."

He raised a brow. "Is that a yes or no?"

"Kweh."

"What?"

"Kweh."

"I said, is that a yes or no?" He yelled in frustration.

"Kweh."

"You—"

"Zack! You're arguing with a _chocobo_. Unless you _know_ the language of the chocobos, then you aren't gonna get an answer." Tifa shook her head and sighed.

"…" Zack crossed his arms. "Fine, his name is Ang then."

"Why did you name him Ang?" Aerith questioned.

"After my father." He grinned.

"Isn't Ang more on the feminine side though?" Yuffie asked.

"I think so…" Tifa said with an unsure voice.

"No! It's on the male side!" Zack argued.

"Well…But, do chocobos even have genders?" Tifa furrowed her brows in confusion.

"…" Everyone stayed silent or shrugged.

"No clue." Cloud said. "You can check if you want." He said to Tifa with a small smirk.

Tifa threw him a quick glare. "No."

"So what did you name yours Teef?" Zack asked.

"Pel." She said as she pet Pel's feathers.

"Pel? What kind of name is Pel?" Yuffie asked with a curious look.

"Pel…he's named after one of my family members." Tifa said with a soft look.

"Oh."

"Well, what about you Cloud?" Aerith asked with a sweet smile.

"Spiky."

"Kweh!" Spiky sounded in an excited tone.

"Seems like he likes you." Aerith giggled.

Cloud nodded. "Yeah."

"Hey Cloud, you and Spiky could be TWINS!" Yuffie teased as she threw her head back in laughter.

Cloud glared. "…Funny."

"I know right?" Yuffie said as her laughter slowly subsided.

A small roar came from Nanaki which caught everyone's attention. "What is it Nanaki?" Tifa asked. Nanaki roared as he turned around and began walking north.

"Guess he thinks we're wasting time." Vincent said and everyone nodded in agreement. "Let's go."

"Yah!" Everyone shouted as the chocobos responded with a "Kweh!" Nanaki's strides became longer as he sped up and led the group to their next destination.

**-Later on That Day-**

"WATER!" Yuffie shouted as she jumped off Materia and into the waterfall. "Finally! Water!"

Tifa laughed. "Whose fault was it that she drank all her water at once?"

Yuffie shot her a look and pouted. "I get dehydrated easily!" She defended.

It was already almost sunset when the group reached the waterfall. They've been on their journey to Rocket town for hours, with hardly any stops. Everyone got off their chocobos and put their weapons on the ground. "Might as well jump in and relax. It _was_ a long day today." Aerith said with a smile. "We'll get the wood for the fire later as well as dinner." Everyone nodded in agreement and hopped into the small lake with a splash, well everyone but Nanaki.

Nanaki lay on his stomach as he watched everyone enjoying their time in the water. He moved his gaze around the lake—surveying the area. Suddenly, an unknown scent caught his attention. He slowly stood up and sniffed the air. He walked closer and closer to the cliff that the water was falling from. Exactly, what could that smell be? He wondered.

"Nanaki!" Tifa called as she swam over to the rocks that Nanaki was standing on. "What is it boy?"

Nanaki gave a small growl and sniffed the wall once more. He took a few steps back and ran ahead with full force, careful to time his jump perfectly.

"Nanaki!" Tifa yelled in worry as she saw one of her best friends disappear behind the waterfall. She quickly climb on the rocks and tried to find Nanaki. "Nanaki! Where did you go?" She called as loud as she could. She tried her best to see through the water, but nothing was working. Everyone climb out of the lake and walked over to the rocks, while Zack walked over to their equipment and grabbed his and Cloud's Buster Swords.

"Do you see him?" Aerith asked with worry.

"No…I can't see a thing with all this water." Tifa cried in frustration.

"Here, maybe this will help." Zack said as he handed Cloud his Buster Sword and held his own up over Tifa's head, causing the water to stay out of her face and let her see through the waterfall.

"Perfect. Can you put your sword more forward so I can see more?" Tifa instructed.

Zack nodded and did as told. "You see anything?"

"Mm…There!" Tifa pointed. "There's a cave behind the waterfall! See it?"

Zack moved a little to see exactly where she was pointing at. "Yeah. But, we need to jump to get over there. How about I'll carry you and jump across?" Zack suggested.

"Sure, I do—whoa!" Tifa shouted as she felt a pair of strong arms pull her close to a built body.

"Hey! Vincent! That's not fair! I was supposed to carry her!" Zack shouted as Vincent leaped from the rocks with Tifa in his arms.

"Perfect landing." Vincent muttered as he set Tifa down on the edge of the cave. He turned around to Zack, giving him a triumphant smirk.

"Woo-hoo! Seems fun!" Yuffie shouted with excitement. "Me next!" She took a few steps back and ran forward, jumping off the edge of the rock. She did a small flip in the air and did a perfect landing inside the cave. She grinned. "Perfect ninja status."

Cloud lifted his sword up to see the exact location of the cave. "Hm…"

"Can you take me Cloud?" Aerith asked with a sweet smile.

"…Sure." He put his sword in the sheath on his back and carried Aerith in his arms. "Hold on." She nodded as he took a few steps back to give him more of a boost. He leaped off the edge of the rock and barely missed the edge of the cave. That was, until Vincent rushed forward and grabbed Aerith and Cloud's arms. He put Aerith down and gave a relieved sigh.

Yuffie skipped over to Aerith and gave her a nudge in the arm along with a wink and a teasing smile. Aerith immediately blushed and nudged Yuffie back, signaling her to stop.

Tifa didn't understand why she felt a little irritated at the fact that Cloud carried Aerith. He was _her_ servant, not Aerith's. His job was to protect _her_, so what was he doing carrying Aerith, when he was supposed to be carrying her to safety. She gave a small huff and folded her arms. _'Unbelievable.'_ She thought to herself. _'Wait, am I jealous?'_ Her eyes widened. _'No way. Impossible.'_ She chuckled to herself. She shook her head and just thought it was impossible. It had to be impossible that she was jealous of Cloud and Aerith. Exactly, what was there to be jealous about? She didn't _like_ Cloud, only as a childhood friend of course and nothing more. So jealousy was completely out of the question. And besides, Aerith was always in love with Cloud, so she should be rooting the two on. She didn't have time for this little love stuff. She needed to focus on her goal of getting rid of Shinra and Jenova. So there was absolutely no possible way she was jealous of Cloud and Aerith…right? Boy was she going crazy.

"Alright! My jump!" Zack did as the rest and made it onto the ledge. "Alright, so let's go explore this cave and find Nanaki." He said with a grin.

The group walked further and further into the cave. The further they walked in, the more small lights they say. Closer and closer, they saw tiny crystals on the ground, illuminating a white and blue color.

"So pretty!" Yuffie said in a childlike voice.

"Mhm." Aerith nodded in agreement.

"What is this place?" Tifa asked in wonder.

"No clue. It wasn't even on the map." Vincent said as he looked at the crystals around him. "Hey, look over there." Vincent moved his sight to see the glowing lights up ahead. Everyone quickened their pace and hurried further into the Crystal Cave.

"Nanaki!" Tifa called as she saw her red lion sitting in front of a giant crystal. "What are you staring at?" She asked as she walked to the side of him and pet his head. He gave a small roar, but he didn't move his gave from the giant crystal.

"Hey…there's a girl in the crystal!" Zack shouted in astonishment.

Her long brown hair was tied in a high ponytail with a yellow ribbon. Her side bangs framed her face perfectly, trailing from right above her closed eyes to the side of her cheek. Her hands were intertwined and folded over her radiant white dress.

"What the…what is she doing in there?" Yuffie asked as her jaw slightly dropped.

"Who knows…" Aerith said in a low voice.

Vincent kept his eyes on her as he walked closer and closer to the crystal.

"Vincent?" Tifa called as she slowly walked up to him. "What's wrong?"

He slightly furrowed his brows. "I think I know her." He closed his eyes to remember where she came from. He pictured her standing next to his father with her husband that had glasses and long black hair tied in a low ponytail. In front of her and her husband was a young boy that was around his age at the time, but what was unique about the boy was that he had silver hair and green eyes. He remembered that her son was his best friend at the time because their parents worked together. He remembered to times he went over to their house and she would bake cookies and cook dinner for them. He remembered her gentle smile and how he wished she was his departed mother. But what exactly was this lady's name? "Mrs…Lucr…" His eyes snapped open and lit up when he remembered her name. "Mrs. Lucrecia Crescent." He turned to Tifa. "We came from the same village. I remember I was at her house playing a game with her son when the attack happened. She took us and ran, but I got separated and ended up in the forest near Gongaga." He paused and looked up at Lucrecia. "While she and her son ended up over here."

"Then where's her son? And how did she get crystallized like that?" Zack wondered.

"No clue." Vincent said.

Tifa put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Well, at least she looks amazing in that crystal. I think it's better she's inside a crystal rather than being buried in the ground. Don't you think?" She gave a small smile.

His lips slightly curved upward. "Yeah." He gave a deep sigh. "Well, let's get out of here and go make a fire and eat. I'm pretty sure it's late by now." He turned around and headed to the exit.

"From sensitive to unemotional in a minute." Zack commented.

Tifa giggled. "Oh Zack, not everyone is emotional like you." She teased as she passed him.

"Hey! Rude!" He said as he ran to catch up to Tifa. He slung an arm around her shoulders. "Emotional and sensitive men are the sweet and caring ones. Perfect boyfriends don't you think." He smiled that charming smiled at her and winked.

Tifa grinned. "You are such a charmer."

"I'll take that as a complime—OW!" He yelled as he felt a rock hit him in the head and back. "Again! Stop throwing rocks at me!"

"Sorry, I kicked it too hard again." Cloud said as he walked ahead.

"I just threw it because I wanted to." Vincent said. "I have pretty good aim too, 100 points for hitting that empty head of yours." He smirked. And thus began another Vincent and Zack bickering.

"So ignoring the _kids_, what should we name the cave?" Tifa asked Aerith and Yuffie.

"Crystal Cave?" Yuffie suggested.

"Or Lucrecia's Cave? In honor of her." Aerith suggested.

"Hm…both sound nice." Tifa smiled. "Lucrecia's Crystal Cave?"

"Combined it…hm…I like it!" Yuffie grinned.

Aerith nodded. "I second that." She smiled.

"Alright." Tifa stopped and looked back at Lucrecia. "Lucrecia's Crystal Cave." Tifa said to herself with a smile as she turned back around and followed everyone to the exit.

As they all left, no one noticed the small tear go down the side of Lucrecia's cheek. And no one heard the voice in the wind that said the small "thank you." Her thank you wasn't because of the fact that they named the cave after her, but it was more at the fact that someone finally found her. After eight years of never being found, cared for, and forgotten—someone finally found her and more importantly, someone remembered her. Oh how she can almost finally rest peacefully. The only thing left is to see her son…

* * *

**Alright! **

**There's chapter 10!**

**sorry for making everyone wait for like a month! :/**

**I've just been busy enjoying my summer x] and writing chapters for my other story, because i was at a writer's block for this story :/**

**Tell me what you guys think! :]**

**ANDDDD If **Tifa4Buhay** is reading this, I would like to dedicate this chapter to you, because, well first, you might be like "NOOO Why was there a Clerith moment?" Well, i wanted to dedicate this chapter to you because i saw your profile and all the quotes on it and it automatically gave me like HUNDREDS of ideas that allowed me to write this chapter! :]**** So thanks! And i'm actually missing your crazy comments :O Hope you review soon! :]**

GigiThECraZyxsilentAnna: **Oh boy, your username was the hardest i had to type! :O Well, anyways, thanks for the favorite favorite story, author, author alert, and story alert add! :]**

cloud911**: Hey! thanks for the compliment! :] Ohhh i love the idea! I'll try to work it into the story :] But you might not see it until a while :/ **

i promise lover/promise**: Thanks i'm glad you and your cousins like it so much. :] but uh...for future reference...whether you comment on this story or my other story, i still get a notification about it either way...so no need to go comment on my other story for me to update this one okay? :] just a heads up lol And don't worry, i'm gonna finish all my stories. And it does take a while to think of something :/**

happy1**: lol I need some clerith in my story to progress it. sorry :/ but this is a tifaxcloud story, so don't worry :]**

tatoo26**: ahahaha, oh the temptation huh? ;] good luck on your exams and classes! :]**

fantasydreamer94**: haha yes, why yes there is a hint ;] **

pyrocord**: interesting username...anyways! thanks for adding the story to your alerts! :]**

Chibi Emo-chan**: Thanks for adding this story to your alerts as well :D haha and thanks for being so excited for the last update x]**

meatbunluver**: Glad you liked it! :D**

Shadow of the Forgotten Ones: **Interesint username :] pretty deep. thanks for adding this story to your favorites list :D**

zodious**: ****side note, your username reminds me of a harry potter spell x] haha glad you like the vincentxtifa moment. Sure, i can add some sephirothxtifa moment :]**

**Well that's the last of them!**

**hope you guys liked this chapter! :D**

**Well, until next time and thanks again!**

**_-sportiegrl out~_  
**


	11. Chapter 11: Ruins of Nibelheim

**Disclaimer: Final Fantasy VII and characters are property of Square Enix.**

**I Promise is property of sportiegrl.**

**There was some **_MAJOR CHANGES_ **so PLEASE re-read this!**

**ENJOY! :D**

**Chapter 11: Ruins of Nibelheim**

It was the second day of their journey when they finally made it to the Ruins of Nibelheim. The sight in front of them froze the group. Everything was old and run down, the majority of the kingdom wall was put to shambles.

"Whoa." Zack said with a whistle.

"I can't believe Shinra and Jenova had the heart to do this." Yuffie said with wide eyes.

"I can't believe anyone would have the heart to do this." Aerith said with a sad look.

Vincent hopped off Chaos and pulled the reins for Chaos to follow him as he walked closer to the ruins. Everyone followed his lead as they walked to the ruins. They walked over to a pole near the wall and tied the chocobos' reins to it. As they walked pass the walls, each one of them were speechless. Ruins after ruins and grave markers after grave markers were all they saw. Next to the gravesite were a couple of shovels.

"There has got to be HUNDREDS of dead bodies here." Aerith said with disbelief.

"Actually, there are a total of 431 dead bodies and 125 people that were burned in the ashes." Tifa stated.

"..." Cloud widened his eyes. 'We're screwed.' He thought with a panic. 'What's she thinking?'

"How did you know that?" Vincent asked, giving her a curious look.

"…" Tifa paused and a thoughtful expression was written on her face.

"Tifa." Cloud said, walking over to her and pulled her to the side, a far enough distance between them and the others. "What are you doing?" Concern was evident on his face.

"We should tell them."

"What? It's best if not many people know. There'll be less threats coming our way." Cloud reasoned.

"It's not like we don't trust them. I don't know about you, but I trust Vincent and Zack with my life and we've been best friends for eight years. So I think they deserve to know." Tifa argued.

"…" Cloud thought for a moment. "No."

"Uh…you guys done talking over?" Zack asked with suspicion as well as the rest of the group.

"Hold on." She said with a hint of anger, not from Zack but from man with chocobo hair standing in front of her. "And why not?" She huffed. "We trust them and they trust us. Eight years is a long time and we know them well enough to know that they won't do anything to betray us."

"The less people that know, the safer it is for you." He paused. "Besides, I don't want anyone to accidentally blabber anything to anyone. Yuffie and Zack for instance." He jerked his head towards them.

"We should just trust them. Don't you think that along the line when they DO find out, they'll be pissed?"

"I'm not saying I don't trust them, I'm just saying it could slip out. It's better to be safe than sorry."

"So you think they can't keep a secret, which can also be translated into 'I don't trust them." Tifa crossed her arms.

"No, that's not what I'm saying."

"You just said that you think they might slip."

"Look, I _know_ how Yuffie is and Yuffie, she slips up. _A lot_. I don't know if Zack is like that, but Yuffie is. Without them knowing, it puts us in a safe position."

"…but—"

"Be reasonable here Tifa, the more people know about this, the higher percentage that you're going to get caught. And that would put us in more danger. We're supposed to be low-key, so that means that no one should know—even if they've been our friends for around eight years. If you tell them now, there's a greater chance of _all of us_ being in danger." Cloud reasoned.

Tifa paused. "…I guess you're right." She sighed.

"So how are we gonna fix your slip up?"

Tifa shrugged. "Go with the flow?"

"…I got nothing," he shrugged, "I guess it couldn't hurt then."

"So what was that all about?" Aerith asked as Tifa and Cloud joined the group.

"The reason I know about the population number is because Papa has the paper work about it at home." Tifa explained.

"And why did Cloud pull you over to the side?" Zack cocked a brow.

With quick thinking, Cloud responded with ease. "I wanted to know how she had the information because only Shinra, Jenova, and Nibelheim governors knew the population numbers." He purposely didn't mention the royal family knowing.

"So you thought Tifa and her family fell somewhere in the category of those three?" Zack questioned with slight anger.

Cloud continued his act with a cool shrug. "Since I'm the only Nibelheim survivor, there was a possibility that—"

"Tifa isn't an enemy." Vincent interrupted with a glare. He put a hand on the hilt of his sword. "Think something along those lines again and I'll make you bleed."

Cloud puts his hands up in defense. "Alright, alright."

"So, why does your father have the information on the population?" Aerith asked.

"He used it for research. It's to compare the numbers of Shinra and Jenova against AVALANCHE and possible allies. He also has the population number of Shinra and Jenova's kingdom and of every town and village population that they destroyed." Tifa explained. Thank the gods that she was taught war tactics.

"Wow." Yuffie said in awe.

"Well, I wanted to pray to the King and visit his grave." Tifa said as she began heading over to the grave of her late father.

"You already know where it is?" Zack asked with curiousity.

Tifa gave a slow nod. "I passed by here with Papa and Mama while we were traveling to Gongaga. It was already in ruins by the time we came through here."

"Oh."

"Well, here it is, next to the tree—where's the sword?" Tifa's eyes narrowed in slits and her brows furrowed in a question.

"Sword?" Yuffie repeated in a question.

"King Pellos' sword is the marking for the grave. It should be right there!" Tifa angrily pointed to the empty hole where Pellos' sword was placed at the top of the grave, which was representing a tombstone or grave marking.

Nanaki sniffed the air and gave a low growl, as he smelt the scent of whoever was at the grave before them. He crept over to the left and slowly made his way into the forest in a threatening and dangerous way. Once he saw the figure move slightly behind the bushes, he jumped at it with a loud roar.

"Nanaki!" Vincent shouted as they rushed over to where he was. A growl was all they got in response.

"AH! Get off!" A voice shouted. "Guys! Help me!"

"Nanaki! Get over here!" Tifa shouted as they stayed in the clearing near the grave.

Nanaki reluctantly let go of the man's arm and retreated back to his master.

"Get out! We know you're there!" Zack called out as they all unsheathed their swords, except for Yuffie who had daggers and other ninja weapons and Aerith who had a bow and arrows. They were prepared for whoever was about to jump out of the bushes.

The bushes rustle as ten built guys stepped out. They all had rugged clothes and had their swords equipped in their hands. Each had a bandana on, but each had a different color. One with a red bandana—presumably the leader—took a step forward and smirked. "You're little," he paused and glanced at Nanaki, "cat took a bite out of my friend Daniel over there." He motioned to the guy with the green bandana on the far right that was toppled over due to his bleeding leg.

The instant he said the word 'cat' was when Nanaki began his low and threatening growl.

"I'm Jake," the leader said. "This is Jerry." He motioned to the one with a blue bandana. "Ethan," the one with the yellow bandana. "Kyle," the one with an orange bandana. "Daren," the one with a purple bandana. "Kenny," the one with a black bandana. "Jason," the one with a brown bandana. "Luke," the one with a white bandana. "Henry," the one with a grey bandana. He introduced everyone in his group.

Vincent rolled his eyes. "And we care about this why?" He glared.

"Well, I thought you would want to know our names so that you guys could beg us for your lives later." Jake said with a smirk as he brought his arm up and back to rest 'his sword' on his shoulder.

Tifa narrowed her eyes once she saw the leader holding a sword that was similar to her father's. No, scratch that, it was he father's. The same family symbol, the embroidery, and yup, there it was. She saw it—her father's name written on the blade with her and her mothers' name written on the scabbard. "Where did you get the sword?" Tifa asked, anger seething out of her with every passing second as her hand gripped the handle.

The leader smirked and brought his sword back up. "Nice huh? Got it from the dead guy over there." He motioned to Pellos' grave.

"So you're a grave robber." Zack concluded.

"I wouldn't say a grave robber, more like a treasure hunter." He smirked.

"Really? I thought of it more as a bandit, tomb raider or possibly a good for nothing." Yuffie said with a sneer.

"No, I was thinking more along the lines of Bandana Geeks." Zack snickered.

The leader gave a snarl. "Get them." He said in a low and angry voice. The bandits did as told and charged forward at the group with their weapons.

"Aerith! Get on high ground!" Tifa instructed.

Aerith nodded and ran to the tree next to Pellos' grave. "Yuffie, cover me!"

"Hai!" Yuffie gripped a shuriken in each hand as she followed Aerith as they made their way to the tree.

"You're not getting away that easily!" Jerry said with a smirk and slashed at Yuffie from the right.

Yuffie jumped back and threw a shuriken aimed at his chest. Jerry quickly dodged it by moving to the left and ran forward. He slashed at her nonstop from the left and right, which Yuffie managed to dodge and block. 'Damn it, I can't keep this up for too long.' She thought as she did a back flip to avoid another slash. In the middle of her back flip, she threw a shuriken at his left shoulder.

"Arg!" He yelled in pain and quickly pulled out the shuriken from his shoulder blade. He grunted as he stood up in a fighting stance. Yuffie smirked grabbed another shuriken as she stood in a fighting stance as well. Jerry gave a war cry and ran forward. He swung at her left. Yuffie ducked and brought the shuriken in her left hand up to parry against the hit. She quickly brought her right hand up and thrust the shuriken into the muscles in his right arm. "AH!" He yelled in pain, but the yelling quickly stopped when an arrow zoomed in the air and hit him square in the chest. He fell back wit his eyes widened and blood oozed from his mouth. Yuffie quickly grabbed the shuriken from his arm and gave a grin and a quick salute to the girl in the tree.

Aerith nodded and smiled. She surveyed the clearing and strung her arrow back. She released the arrow and watched as it flew through the air and straight through Daniel's chest.

Tifa dodged and blocked the attacks coming from Ethan as best as she could. A slash from the left came at her and so she quickly blocked it with her sword. She held her own against him as he tried his best to push her back or cause her to drop her sword. Tifa grit her teeth, furrowed her brows even more, and gripped the handle of her sword even tighter. The guy Kyle was twice her size and she was starting to get pushed back. She was screwed.

Nanaki turned and growled once he saw his master being attacked by the guy named Kyle. He was pushing her back and she seemed as if she was going to lose any second. Nanaki couldn't just stay there and watch—he had to do something to save his beloved master. He bared his teeth and growled as he clawed at the ground—preparing to charge at his prey. Nanaki took off in a second and charged at Kyle. He leaped into the air and opened his mouth aiming to land it on Kyle's neck—perfect hit. Nanaki's mouth tightened around Kyle's neck with his fangs going through Kyle's skin. Thus causing blood to ooze out. Nanaki's claws landed and dug through Kyle's clothes and into his back. Nanaki made a single rough motion and a loud crack was heard coming from Kyle's neck.

Kyle's eyes widened, he didn't even have to time scream in agony as the whole thing happened in a split second. He slumped over and fell to the ground as Nanaki stood on top of him. Nanaki gave a loud and ferocious roar.

Tifa grinned. "Thanks Nanaki! Now go help out the others."

Nanaki nodded and ran off to help the others.

Tifa quickly grabbed her sword and spotted the man with her father's sword—Jake. He just stood there and chuckled as he watched the fighting in front of him. A truly evil man, watching from the sidelines as everyone was fighting for their lives. Tifa growled as she ran forward and jumped in the air. Her sword cut through the air and came crashing down at him from above. A clanging noise was heard as metal collided with metal.

He was quick; she gave him that. Jake chuckled, "You gotta be better than that little lady." He smirked. His smirked quickly wiped off his face as he jumped back to avoid an oncoming arrow that nearly hit his neck.

Tifa did the same and jumped back. "Aerith! This one's mine, get some else." She called out.

Aerith gave a confused nod in reply and searched for another target.

"Now, this battle is between you and me." Tifa said with venom.

Jake smirked. "You got it honey." He winked.

Tifa hardened her glare and charged at him once again. She swung at him from the left, right, and from above, but he managed to dodge and block all of her attacks. Tifa swung at his left, but he parried it. His strength overpowered hers, knocking her sword out of her hands and a few feet away from where they were standing. Tifa grunted and moved back. She quickly put on her gloves and got into a fighting stance, preparing for hand-to-hand combat.

Jake smirked and tossed his sword to the side. He saw Tifa's angry, yet confused look. "Let's make it an even match." He got into a fighting stance.

"Yah!" Tifa ran forward and threw a punch straight at his face. He dodged it and moved to the left, but was quickly met with Tifa's right foot to his left cheek. Jake grunted as he flew back and skid on the ground.

"Heh, seems like you got some moves." He sneered. He stood back up and got back into his fighting stance. "So much for going easy." He ran at Tifa and threw punches at her from the left and right, but she managed to dodge all of it. Jake faked a punch aimed at her left cheek and threw a punch at her stomach when he saw that she left that part open.

Tifa grunted in pain and toppled over. Jake then threw an uppercut at her, which sent her flying a few feet away. Tifa put a hand on her stomach and rubbed her jaw as she groaned and stood back up. Tifa ran forward and did a spinning kick, but Jake grabbed her legs and threw her to a nearby tree. Tifa did a small flip and managed to land her feet on the trunk of the tree. She used her energy to spring off the trunk and twisted around in the air, sending a combination of kicks at his chest. He managed to block the first few, but Tifa's kicks came too quick for him, which caused him to get a series of kicks sent to his chest.

Jake flew back and collided with the ground. He quickly stood up and threw another punch at her. Tifa grabbed his arm and used his body weight to allow her to flip above him and send a kick flying at his back. He groaned as he fell forward and Tifa landed behind him. Jake put his hands on the grounds to level him up and positioned himself to do a ground sweep at her legs. Tifa jumped up to avoid the sweep, but she didn't notice Jake grab something from the side of his leg. When Tifa landed, Jake grabbed her arm and pulled her to him. He quickly threw a punch at her abdomen and let her go.

Tifa toppled over on her knees and grabbed her abdomen. Her eyes widened and she was speechless as her mouth opened as if gasping for air.

"Tifa!" Cloud shouted, bringing everyone's attention to her as they just finished off their opponents. He was about to make his way to her until he saw the look she shot him.

"Heh, you can't get me slowpoke." Henry taunted as he dodged another one of Vincent's swings. "LOSER!"

Vincent growled and did a ground sweep, which Henry jumped and dodged. He quickly did a horizontal swing at Vincent, but this caused his upper body and neck to be widely exposed.

Vincent blocked his opponent's attack and immediately slashed his sword at Henry's neck, causing it to fall to the ground with wide eyes. "Finally you shut up." He turned around to Tifa's fight to see why Cloud called out to her earlier. "Tifa!" He shouted once he saw her on the ground and ran forward, but stopped in his tracks when she put a hand up.

"Stop!" Tifa managed to cough out. "This-this is my fight!" She stuttered out with great difficulty. She moved her hand from her abdomen and grit her teeth as she saw blood ooze out. She looked back up at Jake and glared when he smirked.

Jake twirled the dagger in his hand and stopped it in a stabbing position. Tifa stood back up in a fighting position, but this time, she was slightly hunched over. Jake's smirked widened and charged at Tifa with the dagger in view. He swiped at her from the left, which she dodged, then he swiped from the right, and Tifa dodged it again. She dodged the best she could and tried to buy time to think of a plan.

She jumped back when she saw the dagger nearly make a cut at her face. 'Dagger…that's it! The dagger!" Jake swiped at her once again, but this time, Tifa grabbed and twisted his arm, causing him to drop the dagger. Tifa quickly dive for the dagger on the ground and did a quick ground sweep at Jake's legs.

It was slow motion to Tifa. When she quickly stood up with the dagger in her hand, it was just all slow motion to her. She saw Jake in the air, slowly falling back from the ground sweep that she did earlier. And in just seconds, Tifa quickly slammed the dagger straight into his chest; causing his eyes to widen, cough up blood, and slam into the ground to instant death.

Tifa sighed as she fell on her butt and groaned. "Bastard."

"Tifa!" Everyone yelled as they made their way to her.

"Tifa, let me check your wounds." Aerith said, quickly taking out bandages from a small back that was slung on the side of her waist.

Tifa lied on the ground and lifted her shirt up to where the injury was. "How is it?" She grunted.

"It's not too good." Aerith said as she grabbed some medicine and wiped away the blood. "But, it's not too bad."

"You idiot! Next time let someone help you!" Zack yelled. "What you did was stupid, and that's coming from me."

Tifa sighed. "Sorry, its just-its just I hate grave robbers the most. And I grew up hearing from Papa and Mama how wonderful the King was and how they really idolized him, so I just—"

"That's still not a good enough reason." Vincent interrupted.

She sighed and looked down. "I know."

Zack sighed. "Alright," feeling bad for scolding her, he put a hand on her head. "Just next time, don't do something stupid like that alright?"

Tifa nodded. "Got it."

Cloud grabbed Pellos' sword and put it back in its' scabbard. He walked over a few more feet and grabbed Tifa's sword as well.

"Alright, you're all wrapped up." Aerith said with a smile. "Is it too tight?"

Tifa shook her head. "Nah, it's fine. Thanks." She grinned.

"Here." Cloud put the two swords in her hands.

"Thanks." Tifa sheathed her sword and slowly stood up with her father's sword. She walked over to the grave and put the sword back into the hole. "Yuffie, can you come here for a bit?"

"What is it?" Yuffie asked as she made her way over.

"You think you could spring a trap? I don't want anyone else to steal the sword."

Yuffie nodded. "Easy peasy. I'll have it done in a snap." She grinned and got to work.

"Can someone bring me the dagger, a pen, and a paper?" Tifa said as she walked to the tree.

"Here." Vincent handed her the dagger with the blood wiped off, a pen, and the paper she requested.

Tifa quickly scribbled a note on the paper and used the dagger to stick it to the tree.

"Beware: If someone tries to take the sword, a deadly trap will be sprung." Vincent read. "Obvious enough. Only a stupid person would not follow this message…Zack, for future reference, stay away from this tree." He sneered.

Zack growled. "Shut up."

"Can you guys help bury the bodies?" Tifa asked.

"Sure." Zack said as he made his way to the bodies. "Where do you want them buried?"

"Where the citizens are."

"Alright. Cloud how about you go dig up some graves and I'll drag the bodies over there." Zack suggested.

"Sure. I guess even bandits need to have their corpse be respected." Cloud said as he walked over to the gravesite.

"Wait." Everyone stopped to see what Vincent had to say. "Search their pockets. See if they have anything useful for us; money, equipment, medicine or anything else."

Everyone nodded as they began searching through the pockets of the corpses. Zack gave a low whistle. "This one yours Vincent?" He asked as he pointed to the dead body and head that was a few inches away from the body.

"Yeah." Vincent shrugged.

"You hated him that much?" Zack smirked.

"Yeah. He got really annoying." He resumed to searching through the pockets. "Wouldn't shut up." He muttered.

"Ruthless." Zack resumed to finding anything useful. "You guys wanna keep any swords?"

"Yes!" Yuffie shouted, so Zack threw the swords into a pile on the side.

"Daggers?"

"I want them!" Yuffie announced when the tree.

Zack nodded and put them into the same pile with the swords.

"Can you give me some shirts and bring the swords and daggers over here?" Yuffie called to them.

"Sure." Zack nodded pulled the shirts off the dead bodies. He grabbed the clothes, daggers, and swords—dropping them in a pile near Yuffie. "What's it for?"

"The trap, duh." She rolled her eyes. "Now go, I gotta concentrate."

"Whatever." Zack shrugged and went back to burying the bodies.

Tifa knelt in front of her fathers' grave and ignored the fact that Yuffie was still working on the trap. She put her hands together and began praying to her father. When she finished, she opened her eyes to see Yuffie with much concentration on her face as she was digging into the ground with a one of the shovels from the gravesite.

"Yuffie, are you almo—"

"Sh!" Yuffie said with deep concentration.

"Uh, okay…" Tifa said with a slow nod as she walked over to everyone at the gravesite.

"Hey, we're almost done." Zack said as he dropped another body into the hole. Right after the body was set in the hole, Nanaki and Zack began shoving dirt into the hole. "Turns out Cloud here, is a pretty quick with the shovel." Zack grinned as he finished shoving the dirt into the grave. "Two more to go."

"Done with the digging." Cloud announced.

Vincent threw a body into the grave. "Shovel the dirt back in."

Tifa nudged him in the ribs and shot him a look.

Vincent grunted. "Please." He muttered out.

Cloud smirked. "Sure."

"Alright, I put the last guy in." Zack announced.

"We're done." Cloud said.

"Hey guys!" Yuffie shouted with excitement.

The group turned around to see Yuffie jumping up and down and waving her arms in excitement. "I finished! Wanna see?" She grinned from ear-to-ear.

"Sure." Tifa said as she and the group made their way to Yuffie.

"Be careful to keep a five feet radius away from the sword." Yuffie backed them away. "There's a pit right there. I used the swords and buried the hilt of the sword into the ground. So if someone walks on the cover of the pit, they'll fall right in and through the swords."

"Wow." Zack whistled.

"So the clothes…?" Aerith trailed.

"It's for the cover of the pit, to keep hold the dirt and keep the image that there isn't a pit." Yuffie explained.

"Wow." Tifa's eyes slightly widened.

Vincent saw that fishing wire was wrapped around the bottom of the sword. "What's with the wire?"

"Oh yeah, see those two shurikens buried in the ground?" Yuffie pointed to one that was on the left side of the tree and one on the right, both in between the tree and sword. If one were to look closer, the wire from the sword went through the small whole on the handle part of the shurikens and connected to two tree branches that were pulled back. "If someone was walk into the wire, it would make the branches rush forward and stab the person with the daggers that I hid and tied in the leafy part of the branches."

"A tripwire." Cloud concluded.

"Yup." Yuffie said merrily.

"Evil master mind." Zack said with amazement.

Yuffie turned to him, giving him a devilish smile and a wink.

Tifa smiled. "Thanks Yuffie."

"No problem!"

"Well, how about we get going then?" Tifa suggested.

"You sure you gonna be alright to travel? You don't wanna rest here for the night?" Cloud asked. A very subtle slight hint of worry was present in his eyes.

"I'll be fine. Let's head out." Tifa made her way to the chocobos.

Zack exchanged looks with Vincent. "Let's just go along with it." Zack shrugged.

"But she's injured." Cloud argued.

"In the eight years that I've known Tifa, she won't listen when she starts acting like this." Vincent retorted with a smirk.

"Whatever." Cloud tried to play it cool, but on the inside, boy did he feel like giving Vincent the nastiest glares and possibly a punch or two. "Let's go then." He brushed past Vincent with Aerith trailing behind him. Everyone quickly untied their chocobos and hopped on, riding away to hopefully what was next their second to last stop—Rocket Town.

* * *

**Alright!**

**Chapter 11…AGAIN!**

**As **Cloud Zen** pointed out in their latest review, I was disappointed in revealing Tifa's identity as well. I thought it would be easier if I did that, but turns out that I keep going to dead ends and that caused for a delay of chapters. :[**

**So, I had to re-write chapter 11 :]**

**Hope you guys liked this chapter better than the previous one! :D**

**And I didn't change the review feedbacks, they're the same, I'll comment back to your latest reviews on the next chapter as usual :]**

JesusisLove**: Thanks for adding my story to your alerts and faves page :] And I'm glad this story is to your taste ^^**

Tifa4Buhay**: Okay, i THOUGHT you already added this to your fave list because I got a notice a while back...unless i'm just trippin' out... o.O BUT! Thanks for adding it to your faves! :D ...again...? o.O lol :]**

Gaorie**.: Thanks for adding it to your story alert :] Haha, and thanks for thinking that in your opinion, it's pretty good :D**

XFateXFellXShortX**: Thanks for adding it to your fave page :] I like your user, it's pretty deep.**

DemonicAngel67**: Um, i haven't really decided on the AerithxZack thing LOL Idk what I wanna do with them yet. Alright, i'll let you know about the beta thing :]And thanks for adding it to your story alert :]**

I Promise Lover**: Um, i don't think Rufus will like her, because there's already three guys liking her right now. They'll probably only be friends...? maybe. Don't worry, there's no sex. That's why it's in the teen category. And i'm sorry, but i'm gonna have to deny your kiss at the end suggestion. Sorry :[ And um, I honestly don't remember when Zack proposed to her...yeah, would you mind send me the sentence that says he proposed? Because i really don't remember that part... :| Thanks for liking the story though! :]**

Hellion Rogue**: Thanks for adding it to your alerts! :]**

fantasydreamer94**: Haha, the rock-kicking part, i got that form my friend LOL because he actually does that whenever people hit on his girlfriend LOL Haha, i didn't know what names to choose. So i just wiki-ed historis names that was in the character's profiles...and yeah LOL Yeah...Tifa seemed to only SLIGHTLY care though... :|**

ffangelwing**: haha, thanks for liking my story! :] What does the ff stand for in your us-oh wait...nevermind. i just got it x] LOL and thanks for adding it to your alerts :]**

iceQueen02**: hahahaha it seems that the rock kicking was everyone's faves LOL most of the small Cloud jealousy parts came from my friend. LOL he acts so cute when he's jealous x] He's super childish it's funny lol**

Chibi Emo-Chan**: LOL yeahhh I got that from Tifa4Buhay's profile :] lol**

Gigi**: Alright, i'm just gonna put Gigi for now on x] Haha thanks :]**

**t**atoo26**: Yeah, sorry it was a month :[ hahaha yeahh the chocobo did think Cloud was his own x] I liked Zack's chocobo taming as well x] lolll**

Cloud Zen**: Thanks for adding this to your alerts :]**

zodious**: lol yeah, it does! the spell...uh... EXODIOUS! LOL is that right? haha i know, they abuse Zack a lot. *sigh* lol idk when the sephti moments are coming :P sometime soon though, i think.**

Eclipse Storywriter**: Haha, i think Cloud just let's it slip out by accident x] lol Haha, Lucresia's son...idk :P you just have to wait.**

**And school is starting next week…so I'll see how much I can get done :]**

**Thanks again for the support! :D**

_**- sportiegrl out~**_


	12. Chapter 12: Rocket Town

**I don't think I needa do anymore disclaimers since I already stated it in the past 11 chapters :)**

**ENJOY! :)**

**_FOR ALL THE PEOPLE THAT DID NOT RE-READ CHAPTER 11, PLEASE DO OR YOU WILL BE LOST. I DON'T KNOW HOW TO EMPHASIZE THIS ENOUGH. SO PLEASE DON'T IGNORE THIS BOLD AND ITALICIZED SECTION!_**

**Chapter 12: Rocket Town**

"So this is Rocket Town." Zack put his hands on his hips, taking in the heavy mechanically influenced town. "Hm, pretty different to home."

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure the reason is because this place is called _Rocket Town_, not _Gongaga Village_." Vincent said in a smartass tone.

"Wanna start something?" Zack spun around facing Vincent, waving a fist in front of his face.

"Sorry, fighting an idiot would just ruin my reputation."

"You freakin' ba—!"

"Enough already." Tifa said with irritation.

"Hm, you know," Vincent turned to Tifa. "Your dad would love this place."

Tifa looked around at the different building styles with a small smile on her face. "Yeah, he would. We have to bring him here once we bring Shinra and Jenova down." She said with a smirk.

"Don't say that too loud, someone might hear." Cloud commented.

Zack scoffed. "And why would you care? Besides, weren't you the one that thought she was a spy from Shinra?" He sneered.

"Please hold your tongue Zack. Your rudeness to Cloud won't be tolerated." Aerith said with a stern look.

"Yeah!" Yuffie piped in. "Stop being such a meanie!"

"It _was _Cloud that said he didn't trust Tifa, was it not?" Vincent stated.

"Maybe it's a good thing. We barely met her a few days ago, for what reason should we trust her?" Aerith retorted.

"Then why should we bother to trust you?" He crossed his arms.

"Vincent!" Tifa scolded.

Aerith was taken aback. "We—"

"You say that the three of you don't trust Tifa just because of Cloud's suspicion, but the question is whether or not we should trust the three of you." He pressed on. "As you said, we all met only a few days ago. So why should we entrust our lives to each other?"

"We aren't in any alliance with them!" Yuffie glared.

"Yuffie," Tifa pleaded. "We aren't saying tha—"

"Where's the proof? How do we know you're not spies?" He continued.

"We could say the same." Aerith interjected.

"Then we'll just travel separately." Zack suggested.

"Fine." Yuffie huffed.

"Fine by me." Aerith folded her arms.

"Whatever." Vincent looked away in annoyance.

Tifa and Cloud exchanged worried looks. Shit, what were they supposed to do now?

"Let's go Cloud." Aerith turned and led the way.

"Wait!" Tifa called out. "May—"

"Don't waste your breath on them." Vincent picked her up and threw her over his shoulder.

"Vincent! Put me down!" She struggled against his hold.

Cloud was about to make his way to them and help Tifa, but he stopped once he felt small hands wrapped around his balled fists.

"Let's just go Cloud." Aerith turned around and pulled him away.

"Aerith, we—"

"Just drop it Cloud. They're not worth our breath." Yuffie huffed, walking along side Aerith.

Cloud looked back at Tifa while reluctantly following Aerith. He saw Tifa's head lift up to look at him. Her troubled expression was that last thing he saw before Zack stepped in between the two of them. Zack threw his head over his shoulder and sent a glare to Cloud through the corner of his eyes. _'Shit…how are we going to fix this?'_ Cloud really hoped Tifa had a plan, because if she didn't…well damn were they screwed.

* * *

It was already sunset—3 hours from when they split with Tifa, Vincent, and Zack. They finished eating dinner a while ago and Yuffie was on her way back to their room at the local inn. She was coming back from buying their boat tickets to Midgar.

"Knock, knock." Yuffie said walking through the door of their room. There are two beds in the room; the girls would share one and Cloud would take the other. With the other three gone, they're on an even tighter budget.

"Did you get the boat tickets?" Aerith asked from the bed.

"Yep! Earliest boat leaves tomorrow morning at sunrise." Yuffie handed each of them their ticket.

"Looks like the sun is about to set." Cloud looked out the window.

"Hm, I'm ready for the open bath." Aerith stretched and headed to the door.

"Same here! I reek of the fish they were selling at the dock." Yuffie sniffed her hair and followed Aerith back out the door.

Cloud turned back to the window. "How am I gonna meet with Tifa?" He grunted and flopped onto the bed.

_Knock. Knock._

Cloud slowly sat up and looked at the door.

_Knock. Knock._

He sighed and walked to the door. "Did you guys forget something? Well, the door isn't even locked in the first place." He opened the door, but instead of seeing his two companions, he saw a little girl with a moogle doll in one hand and her other hand was holding a younger boy's hand. "…" He didn't know what to say.

"Are you going to let us in? Or are you going to leave us out here?" The little girl asked with some irritation. It was quite rude for him to leave her and her little brother standing outside of his door.

Cloud gave a slow nod and stepped aside, allowing them access to his room. "Who are you guys? Shouldn't you two be at home with your parents?"

The little girl's brown pigtails bounced with every step she took and her brown eyes observed the surroundings. "I'm Rina Mogami and he," she paused, motioning to the boy next to her. "Is my younger brother Rei Mogami."

Rei gave a small wave and lowered his head a little, causing his shaggy brown hair to cover his brown eyes. He reminded Cloud of himself when he was younger—a shy little boy. And Rina reminded him of Tifa—outgoing and spoke her mind whenever she felt like it.

"Are you sure that's him?" Rei whispered to his sister.

Rima looked at Cloud and turned back to her brother. "Well he's the only person in this city with a blond version of _that_ hair." She pointed to Cloud's golden spikes. "You're Cloud right? Cloud Strife?"

He nodded in reply. "How do you—?"

"We have a message from Tifa." Rima let go of her brother's hand and grabbed a folded paper from her pocket. "Here." She handed it to him.

"Tifa?" He curiously unfolded it and read its' content.

* * *

"I wonder if they found him yet." Tifa flopped onto her futon on the floor in Rima's room. Her hair almost dry from the bath she took a while ago.

_Tifa sat at the desk in Rima's room and looked at what she wrote on the paper in her hands._

"_Cloud,_

_You probably just met Rima and Rei, hopefully Rima isn't giving you _too_ much of a hard time. Basically, meet me at the creek when the moon rises. The creek is on the far east side of the town. Meet you then. _

_Tifa."_

"_What's that?" Rima asked, trying to peek over Tifa's shoulder._

"_A letter." She turned around in her chair, looking at Rima and Rei. "I have a favor."_

_Rima and Rei exchanged looks. "Since you saved us earlier, we'll accept your request for free." She replied with a cheeky grin._

_Tifa chuckled. "You'll be a great businesswoman one day."_

_Rima put a finger on her chin and pondered for a moment. "Hm, that's a pretty good career move."_

_Tifa laughed and shook her head. "Start focusing on your childhood first." She raised a brow. "Are you sure you're twelve?"_

_Rima shrugged. "So what was the request?"_

_Tifa folded the paper in fourths. "Can you go find a guy and give this paper to him?"_

_Rima grabbed the paper and put it in her pocket. "That's it?"_

_She nodded. "He's around Zack's height and has spiky blond hair—like a chocobo."_

"_We can ask the neighborhood if they've seen him around." Rei suggested._

"_Good idea."_

"_Take Nanaki with you guys for protection." Tifa ordered._

"_Got it. We'll be back soon." The two left the room._

"_Stay safe!"_

"_Uh huh." Rima called back from the hallway._

"Knock, knock." A feminine voice called from the other side of the door.

"Come in." Tifa sat up from her futon.

"Is the room to your liking Tifa?" A woman with shoulder length brown hair asked with a polite smile on her face.

"Yes, the futon is really comfortable."

"Futon? You were supposed to take the bed and Rima is supposed to take the futon." The woman furrowed her brows.

"It's fine. It's Rima's room; let her keep the bed. Besides, the futon really is comfortable." Tifa reassured.

"Positive?"

"Of course." She smiled.

The woman sighed. "Alright."

"I have to thank you again Mrs. Mogami; for letting us stay here."

Mrs. Mogami took a seat on Rima's bed. "No, this is the least I could do. Thank _you_ three for saving my kids from those wolves. I don't know what my husband and I would do if we lost them." She sighed. "Those kids, always running off. I can't believe they would just run off into the woods like that."

"Well in their defense, they were picking flowers for you."

Mrs. Mogami sighed once more. "I know and I love them for that, but they should just pick flowers from the garden next time. That way, I can keep my eye on them."

Tifa giggled. "Then it wouldn't be much of a surprise."

Mrs. Mogami laughed. "I guess so." Her laughter subsided, a serious look in her eyes.

"Is something wrong?"

She sighed and looked down at her folded hands. "Rocket Town, it used to be part of the Nibelheim Kingdom, but ever since the attack…well, this town just isn't as great as it used to be."

"Really?" Tifa looked out the window. "I thought the townspeople seemed content."

"Yes, _those_ townspeople."

"Those?"

Mrs. Mogami nodded. "The original people of this town all moved out. Well besides my family, there are only three other families here that are original townsmen."

Tifa's eyes widened in surprise. "What?"

"The majority of these people are Shinrans and Jenovians."

"Where did the original people move to?"

"Any village or town that are opposing the rule of Shinra and Jenova. They were afraid of being killed by the Shinrans and Jenovians."

"And have there been any killings?"

She paused. "A few."

"Why?"

"Because they opposed the Shinran and Jenovian citizens." She paused, casting a sad look at the window. "Although it seems so peaceful here, us Nibelheim citizens are treated horribly. We're struggling, all of us. We do all the labor work and are given lower wages."

"That's horrible!"

She nodded. "It is, but there is not much we can do." Her voice was solemn. "That's why we are waiting for the Princess to bring peace to us." She gave Tifa a knowing smile.

"The Princess?" Tifa tried her best to hide her shock. This woman…there's no way she would know. Right?

"Nibelheim's Princess Tifa Lockhart, heiress to the throne. It is you is it now?"

"I…" She paused, well the cats out of the bag so why not just admit it? "How did you know?" She quietly asked.

"A long time ago, I visited the kingdom with my husband. We wanted to take a trip there before we settled down. We were strolling through the marketplace…"

"_Hiro, this necklace is beautiful." A woman in her early twenties said in awe. _

"_Yes, that necklace is beautiful, Kana. The blue stone compliments your eye greatly." He replied with a grin._

"_Mr. Hiro Mogami, aren't you the charmer." She teased._

_He chuckled. "I'll get it for you." Just as he was about to reach his hand into his pocket, a little girl with short red hair ran into him. _

"_Ow!" The little girl cried, rubbing her shoulder. "Sorry mister!"_

_Hiro knelt down next to the girl. "It's fine, but are you okay?"_

"_Yeah. Well see ya' around!" The little girl quickly ran off._

"_Kids are so adorable, aren't they?" Kana smiled._

"_Yes." He nodded in agreement. "Alright, time to pay for your necklace." He once again reached for his pocket, but to his surprise, his money pouch was gone. "What the." He quickly flipped his pocket inside out._

"_What's wrong?"_

"_Do you have my money pouch?"_

_She shook her head with confusion._

"_I-it's gone." He concluded with disbelief._

"_You don't think…"_

"_It's possible she pick-pocketed me just now."_

"_Oh dear." She said with worry. "What should we do? With my money, we only have enough for one night at the inn." Her eyes began watering. "We'll starve. Then we'll have to work for food and we might get sold into the slave trade. Then we'll—"_

"_Honey, calm down." He grabbed her shoulders, caressing them in a soothing motion. "We'll be fine, I'll work for money if I have to. And besides, Nibelheim banned slavery and doesn't take part in the slave trade."_

"_Oh. Really?"_

_He chuckled. "Yes, really. You certainly do over exaggerate too much."_

"_Come with me right now!" A girlish voice yelled through the streets._

_The couple turned their heads to the voice—curiosity overtook them._

_A little girl around the age of seven with dark brown hair and angry wine colored eyes dragged a little girl through the streets by his ear. Murmurs and gossip swarmed the streets._

"_Honey, isn't that the girl that pick pocketed you?" Kana asked._

"_Yes, yes he is." He said slowly, his mind was still wondering what was going on before him._

"_Who was it?" The little girl questioned the little thief menacingly._

"_I'm not telling!" She glared. "Let go!"_

"_You're not? You sure?" The girl squeezed her ear even harder._

"_Ow!" A cry of pain came from her lips._

"_How about now?" She asked again._

"_Okay, okay!" She looked around the marketplace, her eyes widened slightly when she saw Hiro and Kana. "It was them, I stole from them!" The little thief quickly pointed._

_The girl released her ear, but quickly grabbed hold of her arm. "Come on." She dragged the thief to the couple. "Don't you have something to say?" _

_The little thief grumbled and dug the money pouch from her pocket. "Sorry I stole your money."_

_The girl wacked her upside the head. "Say it politely!"_

"_I'm sorry I stole your wallet." She repeated in a slightly nicer tone. SLIGHTLY.  
_

_Hiro chuckled. "It's alright. Thank you though." He knelt down and took back the bag. "Excuse me, but why did you have to take my money pouch?"_

_The thief glared and looked away._

"_Don't mind her, sir. I'll deal with him for you." The little girl said with a polite smile._

"_Deal?"_

_She nodded. "Yes."_

"_And how will you 'deal' with her?" Hiro questioned. This girl certainly peeked his interest._

"_It's a secret." She grinned._

"_Secret?"_

_She nodded. "Well, but here's a hint." She put a hand up, covering the side of her mouth so the other girl couldn't see. "I'm gonna find her a job." She whispered with excitement._

"_A job?" He questioned back in a whisper._

_She nodded excitedly. "In the palace!"_

"_You're taking me to the palace?" The thief asked in horror. "I'm sorry, I didn't know that taking the money was THAT bad! I'm sorry!" She sobbed._

"_Eh…no, no…" The girl didn't know what else to say. "You got it all wrong, nothing bad is gonna happen!"_

"_Really?" The thief sniffed._

"_Really." She confirmed with a reassuring smile. The thief responded with a slow nod._

"_So how are you going to get into the palace?" Kana asked with curiosity._

"_How? What do you mean how?" The girl gave her a dumbfounded look._

"_Don't you guys know who she is? Man, and I thought adults were supposed to be smart." The thief said with a sneer. "Only the members of Nibelheim's royal family has those eye colors. Duh."_

_The girl whacked her on the head once again. "Don't be rude!" She turned to Kana and Hiro once again. "You guys really don't know who I am?" She asked with amazement._

"_I'm sorry." Kana replied. Murmurs and gasps once again went through the marketplace._

_The girl giggled. "Well now, my name is Princess Tifa Lockhart." She gave a curtsy. "Nice to meet your acquaintance." She smiled._

"_P-pr-princess?" The couple shouted in shock._

"_Princess! Are you over there?" Calls from the guards could be heard as they approached the scene._

"_Over here!" She called back. "Hee-hee," she giggled. "Seems like I have to go. Bye!" _

"That was you and your husband?" Tifa's jaw dropped.

She nodded with a slight chuckle. "Yes. We never forgot you for what you did. Certainly fit for the throne."

Realization hit her. "So that's why Mr. Mogami said 'thank you…again' before he left for work."

"Yes." She smiled. "And how is that little girl?"

Tifa looked down. "She...Felicia, was her name. I don't know if she made it out alive from the attack, but because we didn't find any survivors, there's a large chance she's dead."

"Oh, I-I'm sorry."

Tifa shook her head. "Don't be. She had some really good memories. Besides, she might actually still be alive." She said with a small smile. "Who knows."

"Well anyways," Mrs. Mogami decided to change the topic. "My husband, he always says 'Princess Tifa Lockhart is still alive somewhere. I can feel like. Just watch, she's going to come back and bring down those monsters—save us from this nightmare." She mimicked in a deep voice.

Tifa laughed. "He…" she sighed. "He has too much faith in me."

"That is a good thing is it not?"

She ran a hand through her hair; a far away look present in her eyes. "Who knows."

A knock was heard from the door. "Sorry to intrude." Zack said entering the room with Vincent. "But we need to talk to Tifa."

"Oh, no problem at all. Now, I'll take my leave." Mrs. Mogami stood, giving Tifa a smile and small bow before leaving the room. "It was good seeing you."

"We got the tickets for the boat." Vincent closed the door behind him.

"Tomorrow morning at sunrise." Zack handed Tifa her ticket.

"Can we bring the chocobos and Nanaki?" She questioned.

"Yeah, they have a storage area for them."

"Alright, well have fun waking Vincent up tomorrow." She smirked.

"Crap. Do I have to?" Zack whined.

"Yes. You're sharing the room with him, so you do it."

"Damn it." Zack huffed.

"I'm not thrilled with sharing a room with you either. Listening to your loud, ghost snores it's torture. Hell, I probably won't even have a chance to sleep." Vincent sneered.

"Hey—!"

"Again, you two? Really?" The usual irritation was evident in her voice.

"…" The two guys exchanged glares but kept silent.

"Good." She grinned and looks out the window. "Seems like the sun is down."

"Yeah, but where's the kids?" Vincent questioned.

"And Nanaki?" Zack added.

"Right here."

"Shit!" Zack cursed, while practically jumping three feet in the air. "You scared me Rima! Don't just pop up like that!"

Vincent smirked. "And you call yourself 'the best warrior' when you got spooked by a twelve-year-old girl and her ten-year-old brother? Pft, lame."

"Shut up!"

"Anyways, we went to go play with Nanaki. By the way, he's downstairs with Mom." Rima informed.

"Good, you're back safe." Tifa smiled.

She nodded in reply and climbed into her bed with her moogle doll. "I'm sleepy. Is it okay if you guys leave now?" She yawned and rubbed her eyes.

"Speaks like an adult, but she's a true kid on the inside." Zak commented with a soft smile.

"Let's go." Vincent looked down at Rei—whom was yawning as well. "He looks pretty tired too."

"Sure thing. Sweet dreams you two." Zack wink and blew a kiss. "Come on Rei, let's go get our beauty sleep."

"Aren't those for girls?" Rei questioned.

"Hey, guys need to look good too." Zack smirked.

"But _beauty sleep_ is too…"

"Fruity?" Vincent finished for him.

"Hey, what other term would you use to replace 'beauty sleep' hm?" Zack defended.

"Handsome sleep?" Rei suggested.

"Too long." Vincent furrowed his brows in concentration.

"Princely sleep." Zack grinned.

"Now that's just retarded." Oooh, shot down.

"Hot! Hot sleep." Rei laughed.

"Better than _princely sleep_." Vincent smirked.

"Hey!" Zack shouted.

"So hot sleep then?" Rei asked Vincent, ignoring Zack's shouts.

"Sure."

"Don't ignore me! Rude!" Zack continued.

"Can you guys continue this in your room? I _am _trying to sleep here." Rima shot the three a glare.

"No please?" Zack raised a brow.

"_Now._"

"Rima…" Tifa warned.

She huffed. "_Please._" She strained the word.

Zack and Vincent exchanged looks. "I think that's the best we can get out of her."

"Yup it is." Rei confirmed.

"Let's go. I'm pretty tired." Vincent left the rooms and the two followed in suit.

"Finally!" Rima sighed and flopped on her bed. "Oh yeah, Cloud said he'll meet you tonight."

Tifa smiled. "Thanks Rima."

"No problem. The window is unlocked, so you can sneak out through there. Mom and Dad are heavy sleepers, so you'll be fine."

Tifa cocked a brow. "You've snuck out before haven't you Rima?"

Rima shook her head. "Nope, sometimes me and Rei like to go stargazing."

"Oh, alright then." Tifa gave a sigh of relief. "That's good to hear."

"Tifa, I'm only twelve. What is there for me to do in the middle of the night?"

"Ha-ha." Tifa gave an awkward laugh. "That's what I wanted to know."

"Well, when you think of something, tell me so I can finally have a reason to sneak out." A mischievous glint twinkled in her eyes.

"Rima!" Tifa scolded.

Rima laughed. "Kidding! I'm just kidding!"

"You better be." Tifa sent her a warning look.

"Okay, okay. Goodnight Tifa."

"Goodnight." Tifa looked out the window. She saw the moon slowly rising in the sky. _'Time to get going.'_

* * *

Cloud sat on stomp that was planted on the edge of the creek. He looked around, _'not here yet…I'm probably just early.'_ He looked up at the sky only to see the full moon finally rise to its highest point in the sky. Surrounding it were ting stars glistening in the dark sky. The full moon illuminated in the darkness, rays of the moonlight shone through the tree leaves and around Cloud—on the creek. "The full moon."

"It was the signal for the attack on Nibelheim."

Cloud jumped from his stump and drew his sword. He whipped around holding it up defensively with a glare on his face.

"Relax, relax. It's only me." Tifa took a step forward, allowing a ray of moonlight shine on her face.

Cloud stood straight and sheathed his sword. An inaudible sigh of relief escaped his lips as he took a seat back on the stump.

"Had you scared huh?" A small giggle sounded from her lips as she took a seat beside on the grass.

"No."

"Lair." Tifa giggled. "We gotta stop meeting like this."

"Like what?"

"You know," she paused, a teasing look played in her eyes. "Under the moonlight in the middle of the night. You and me—alone in the dark. You have to stop calling me out so late at night." She shook her finger. "Tsk, tsk, tsk."

Cloud scoffed. "You're the one coming to me and sending _me_ letters."

A dramatic sigh escaped her lips. "Denial, denial, denial. Admit it, you can't resist me." She smirked.

"Uh huh…so you were saying about the full moon?" Smooth, Cloud, smooth. To be able to change the topic as slick as that, what a sly man.

"You're no fun." She gave a small pout.

Yeah, the word 'cute' ran through Cloud's mind the moment he saw that expression. Who wouldn't be able to resist? Well apparently he has been able to, but he was slowly starting to give in. It made him wonder how Vincent and Zack have been able to resist this whole time. Well…maybe not Zack, but Vincent had a lot of control over his emotions. Simply a-freakin'-mazing.

"The full moon…" She looked up at the circular object in the sky. "Shinra and Jenova used that as the signal of when to start the attack on Nibelheim."

"How did you find that out?"

Tifa moved her gaze to the water flowing the creeks. "A few days after the attack, we found someone laying on the ground next to a tree. He was gravely injured, dressed in all black. He had burns on his left arm, scratches and bruises all over the place, and blood was still oozing from his leg."

"Was he a citizen or…"

"Attacker. He was one of the few that got away. Cid, he threatened the guy to give up everything he knew about the attack, but it didn't work. So he had to resort to the method of torture. In the end, he finally gave up all the info he had—where he came from, who ordered the attack, the signal, what groups were involved with the attack, who were the leaders of the attack, etcetera."

"He must have been in a lot of pain to give up all the info. Shinra and Jenova warriors are known to never crack under pressure or give into their emotions." Cloud said in amazement.

"But it was infuriating." Tifa continued, her brows furrowed and her eyes narrowed dangerously.

"What happened?" Cloud asked hesitantly.

"He wasn't remorseful, guilty, or…sane for that matter. He was glad that our kingdom were destroyed and our people were killed—calling it the 'extermination of insects and monsters.' He said that we didn't deserve to live and even if Shinra and Jenova wanted to spare our lives, we weren't even worthy of being a citizens of their kingdoms."

"What the hell are they teaching their citizens over there?" Cloud narrowed his eyes; anger slowly rose in his body. How disgusting those Jenovians and Shinrans monsters are.

"Of course, he was killed in the end." Tifa continued, drawing him from his thoughts. She turned to him, her eyes softened—guilt was all he could make out. "Was it a cruel choice—to kill him? He was already suffering enough from the injuries and torture, was killing him over the top?"

"Well," Cloud looked forward, "he was involved in a massacre, invasion—whatever you wanna call it. He was sadistic, insane—a psychopath. Like you said, he didn't feel any guilt at all. Basically, he was inhuman—no emotions, no remorse—he was a monster."

"I guess you're right." She looked down at her hands.

"But the real monsters are Shinra and Jenova. They're the ones ruining and brainwashing people."

Tifa nodded in agreement and turned her gaze to Cloud. "Cloud," she paused, waiting for him to bring his attention to her. "The citizens of Nibelheim treated you so…horribly. Why would you want to bring Shinra and Jenova down for revenge for them?"

"Good question." He paused, putting a hand on his chin. "I guess it's because even though the people were mean, we still shared the same home. Nibelheim was and will always be my home. It's natural to want to fight for your kingdom, no; it's an honor to fight for your kingdom. Besides, I met a crazy girl there who made me run around the whole kingdom with her because she was being chased by some guards." He gave her a small smirk.

Tifa gave a small laugh. "Hey, I saved your butt that day."

"Uh huh, uh huh. Sure." Cloud chuckled. The wind slightly blew a small breeze over the two. It was small, but it was small enough to send shivers throughout Tifa's body. Of course, this didn't go unnoticed to Cloud. "Here." He said, taking off his jacket and throwing it on her head.

"Thanks." She shivered and hurriedly put the jacket on.

"There's another reason as to why I want to bring them down, aside from 'it's the moral thing to do' of course."

"What's that?" She looked up at him with curiosity, a smile played on her lips.

Cloud kept his eyes on the creek. "I thought you were dead."

Tifa's smile slowly faded.

"I made a promise to you and I couldn't save you. I saw your palace on fire and all of your citizens being murdered. So I thought I couldn't save you or them, I could at least do one thing for you—take revenge." Cloud turned and locked eyes with her.

Tifa couldn't make out the emotions behind his mask of his. Hell she couldn't make out the emotions in his eyes. It just seemed as though there were hundreds of emotions running through them: sadness, determination, anger, pain, and so much more. She just felt like pulling him off the stump and engulfing him in a big hug. And possibly steeling the seat on the stump afterwards, the grass was probably leaving a stain in her clothes right about now. But no, Cloud would probably object to it and push her away.

"Revenge." Tifa started. "It seems to be the only thing that's motivating us—the people of AVALANCHE."

"Apparently."

"But is it the best way?"

"Who knows, but right now, it's the only way."

"I guess you're right." Tifa sighed once again. "Alright, we have to talk about how to fix this."

"You mean what happened today."

"Yeah. Zack and Vincent…right now they might hate you guys."

Cloud sighed running a hand through his spiky hair. "Obviously. Yuffie and Aerith don't trust you guys either."

"What to do, what to do."

Cloud kicked a small pebble and watched as it hit the water. Water…a small thought hit him. "When is your boat ride?"

"Sunrise. Yours?"

"Same."

Tifa looked at him, she could see the gears shifting in his head in realization of something that could be of utmost importance to them. Her curiosity grew when she saw the small smirk appear on his lips. "What's with the smirk?"

"I have an idea on how to make them come to mends with one another."

"Will it work?"

"It's not perfect, but—"

"Will it work?" Tifa asked once again, this time with a more forceful tone.

"Fifty-fifty chance, but it's the only idea we got."

Tifa pursed her lips in wonder. Should they go with his plan? She couldn't come up with anything and this was the only one he had. Besides, they were both really tired so there's a low chance a better plan would come up and they _do_ need to rest up to wake before sunrise. So it wouldn't hurt to use whatever plan Cloud cooked up…right?

"So?" Cloud questioned.

"I guess we'll use what you got. So explain. What's your plan?"

"So here's what we'll do…"

* * *

**Alright! **

**The long awaited chapter 12!**

**Hope you guys enjoyed it~**

**I _was_ going to make this longer, but I decided to just leave the rest as a new chapter :) hee hee**

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**


	13. Chapter 13: Overboard

**Disclaimer: You know I don't own anything besides my made-up minor characters.**

**CHAPTER 13 OF _I PROMISE_**

**ENJOY._  
_**

**

* * *

Chapter 13: ****Overboard**

"All aboard! The boat is leaving in fifteen minutes! Have your tickets ready before reaching check-in!" The conductor called out.

"Tickets! Here's our tickets sir!" Tifa grinned, flashing her tickets to the conductor. "It'll be us three." She pointed to the two behind her.

He nodded. "Alright, climb on in."

Tifa squealed. "Sweet!" She quickly ran through check-in and boarded the ship. "This is my first time on a boat! How exciting!"

"I believe this is the first for all of us." Zack walked behind her. He looked left and right—observing the passengers.

Vincent nodded in agreement. He too was observing the passengers. The kids on board were eagerly running around the ship; claiming room compartments and bedding, while parents were warning their kids not to be too rowdy, and couples eagerly claimed rooms—quickly locking the doors to their room for some privacy.

"Well! Since I won rock, paper, scissors; I believe I get to choose the room." She grinned.

"Yeah, yeah. Rub it in." Zack pouted and crossed his arms.

Tifa stuck out her tongue. "Sore loser!"

"Sore winner!"

"Kids, kids. Calm down." Vincent patted Tifa's head.

She pouted. "Well then, I'm gonna go choose a room, bye!" She yelled, quickly sprinted down the hall. She maneuvered skillfully through the crowded hallway; jumping over other's luggage and dodging the idle people posted in the hallway.

"Tifa! Hey!"

She ignored the shouts of Vincent and Zack. If she wanted the plan to flow smoothly, she needed to get rid of the two. Out of nowhere, a pair of strong arms grabbed Tifa by the shoulders and pulled her into a room. Out of instinct, she quickly elbowed the stranger in the stomach. Grabbing the stranger's arm, she threw him over her shoulder and onto the ground. She jumped onto the guy and pinned his arms above his head. But before she could open her mouth, he already opened his.

"Relax, it's just me." His voice was coarse.

"Oh, Cloud. Sorry, I though you were trying to attack me." She quickly crawled off of him.

He groaned. "Yeah, I can tell." He rubbed his stomach and slowly stood up.

"Sorry, sorry."

"It's fine." He dusted himself off. "Well first of all, this is going to be your room. Aerith chose the one next door to the right."

"Got it."

"So, phase two—to the deck. Don't forget that we're supposed to meet up near the front of the deck and we-"

Tifa cut him off. "Act like we made amends and as if we're best buddies or something. Got it."

"And if it fails?"

"We'll think of something on the spot to make them be friends again?"

He shrugged. "Good enough for me."

"Alright, get outta here and I'll go get Vincent and Zack. Make sure Yuffie and Aerith don't come out until you hear us leave."

Cloud nodded. "Definitely." He said before quickly leaving the room.

Tifa waited a few minutes and opened the door.

"There you are!" Zack said from down the hallway. Vincent had an irritation look on his face.

"Uh oh…" Tifa muttered under her breath. From the look on his face…shit was she in trouble.

"Running off like that—are you stupid?" Vincent questioned in a hushed, but angry voice.

"No, that's Zack."

"Hey!" Zack protested.

"I'm being serious." Vincent stated with narrow eyes.

"But I was excited." She defended in a tiny, kid-like voice. She was praying to the gods that her guilt-trip would work on him.

"…" He sighed, putting a hand on his head. "Alright, alright. Just don't do it again."

"Okay~!" She grinned, throwing her arms around his neck—engulfing him in a tight hug. _'Thank the gods,'_ she gave an inward sigh of relief.

"Okay, okay, hugging time over." Zack said with jealousy, pulling Tifa off of Vincent.

_Knock. Knock._

"Come in." Zack called to the door.

"Hello there passengers, I'm Captain Bronco and I'm making my rounds to inform everyone that we'll be sailing for Midgar within the next five minutes." The Captain smiled and gave a curt bow.

"Thank you." Tifa smiled while the other two simply nodded.

"Well, I hope you enjoy your time here and maybe I'll be seeing you all around." He said merrily and strolled away to the next room.

"Maybe I'll be seeing you all around'?" Zack quoted with a confused look. "He's the captain! Shouldn't he be steering to boat while we're sailing? Why the hell would it be a good thing to see him roaming around the boat if he's not steering? What if we crash into a cliff and sink or something? Huh? What kind of Captain does that?"

Tifa rolled her eyes. "Don't worry. I'm sure he's a good Captain."

"Yeah, yeah. I bet you in the future somewhere, a boat is really gonna crash into a giant cliff or something and sink in the ocean killing a bunch of people. All because the 'captain' was lazing off and strolling around."

"You're way over exaggerating. He doesn't seem like such a bad guy for being a," Tifa lowered her voice, "Jenovian."

"Don't judge a book by its' cover." Vincent warned.

"Geez, you guys…" She gave a sigh. "Anyways, I don't want to be cooped up in here. Let's go to the deck!" She said with excitement, tugging the arms of her two companions.

* * *

"Wow!" Tifa grinned, running up the deck and to the rails. "Look at the ocean!" She shouted with excitement, leaning over the rails above the rather cold waters.

"Careful Tifa, you might fall over." Vincent warned, walking to the side of her.

"I'll be fine." She waved off and leaned further.

"Tifa…" Zack warned as well.

"Oh you two, you guys worry too much." She said with a laugh and waved them off. It was as if it was played in slow motion. She did notice how her hands missed the railing and how her feet accidentally slipped off the railing in the mid of her laughter. Also how her body leaned a little too far forward and over the railing. She saw their wide eyes and their mouths gaping, ready to shout out her name on instinct. But even though she saw this happening, she was still too slow to stop it.

"TIFA!" Vincent and Zack shouted in unison, reaching their arms out to grab her, but she fell over to quickly for them to catch her.

The only word that ran through her mind as she went overboard, _'shit.'_ It was the word that basically represented how much trouble she was in and how much trouble she was _going _to be in. It was the only thing she could remember right before her head hit the side of the boat and before her almost lifeless body hit the cold, salty waters.

Shit, she was screwed.

* * *

"The breeze up here is nice." Aerith said with a smile as she, Yuffie, and Cloud walked up to the deck. She closed her eyes; taking in the way the breeze whirl-winded around her and blew her hair around. She gave a content sigh. "The smell of the ocean and the calming breeze…it's just so lovely."

"You can say that again!" Yuffie squealed bouncing up and down. She was almost like a kid, well she seemed more excited than the kids—running from rail to rail with a big grin on her face.

On the other hand, Cloud simply nodded silently in agreement. He kept his mind on something, rather on someone else. His eyes were peeled open and searching from left to right for the wine-eyed, brunette princess. Damn, where was the girl and the cue? He let out a small, impatient growl.

"Something wrong Cloud?" Aerith asked with a worried look.

"Huh?" He turned to her with a zoned out look.

"Is something wrong?" She repeated with more worry.

"No," he pursed his lips with a pause, "nothing. It's nothing." He said, reassuring himself.

"You sure?" She persisted on the subject.

"Yeah, it's nothing."

She gave him an unconvincing look. "If you say so…"

Cloud opened his mouth to respond and convince her nothing was wrong, but an instant cry of help came from the far end of the boat.

"TIFA!" The voices screamed again.

"You don't think…" Aerith was about to question Cloud, but she was too late.

"TIFA!"

Once her name was uttered in that shout of bloody murder, Cloud bolted. Bolted from his spot next to Aerith to wherever the scream came from. His heart rate quickened, his legs pumped—pushing him faster and faster to his destination with each step. His breath quickened with angst, fear, and worry for that scream wasn't a good sign. And from what he remembered, that wasn't the cue he wasn't supposed to get from Tifa. Questions ran through his mind. Why did they scream her name like that? Did something happen to her? What was wrong? Is she okay? Injured? Safe? But the question that worried him endlessly was; was she dead? _'Shit.'_ He cursed in his mind; he couldn't fail to protect her again. No, not a second time.

Cloud arrived to his destination. Spotting Vincent and Zack at the railings, attempting to jump into the cold waters, but were held back by many of the shipmates. He quickly noted how they ferociously tried to fight against the men holding them back. The gears turned in his mind and it was obvious that Tifa somehow went overboard.

It took less than five seconds after the thought clicked for Cloud to rush to the railings, jump over the railings, and dive into the waters.

"Cloud!" Aerith called from the deck as she finally reached the commotion at the railings. Yuffie followed behind her with wide eyes and a gaping mouth.

"Wha-what's Cloud doing?" Zack asked in shock, causing him to stop struggling against the shipmates.

"…" Rationality finally shined light onto Vincent's brain. He ceased his struggle and turned to the workers with an aggravated look. "There are two people overboard! Why are you just standing around us like that? Huh?"

"B-but we were trying to—" A young shipmate hesitantly piped up.

"Don't give me reasons! Hurry and go alert the captain! And bring a rope to hoist them up!" Vincent roared, ordering the shipmates. Thus causing them to scurry away—quickly to alert the captain and find a large enough rope to hoist up the two.

"What happened?" Aerith questioned. "Why did Cloud jump in? What's going on!" Her voice raised with every word. Worry was bringing her to hysteria.

"Aerith, calm down. Knowing Cloud, there's a perfect reason why he jumped into the water." Yuffie said with a soothing voice to her best friend. But within the next second, she turned to Zack with a glare. Bringing her hands up to grip him by the collar, she pushed him against the rail. "Exactly _what_ is going on?" She hissed at him with a threatening voice.

"T-tifa just fell in." Zack responded with shock. It was obvious he was still in shock from Tifa falling overboard. He just couldn't believe that he didn't do anything to help her. She was right there in his grasp and he couldn't even save her. What the hell was he good for if he couldn't even just grab her before she fell into the damn ocean?

"Snap out of it Zack!" Vincent pushed Yuffie aside and grabbed Zack's collar in Yuffie's place. "She's not dead, dumb ass!" He threw a right hook at Zack's left cheek, making Zack fall to the floor with a thud. "Stop being such a pansy ass and do something! If you're gonna be useless then leave!"

Zack put a hand on his bruising cheek. An instant glare reached his eyes as he jumped onto his feet. "What the hell!" He rushed at Vincent, throwing a fist at his right cheek. "What did you just say?"

Vincent quickly blocked it and threw a punch at Zack's gut, making him keel over. "You heard me. If you're just gonna sit there and mope around, then leave. You're dead weight. We only need people who can help save Tifa and Cloud. So help or go." Vincent's glare hardened. "Stop acting like she's dead, she only fell overboard and hit her head. No one said she's dead." Vincent's chest went from heaving up and down in anger to a slow, normal pace. "Tifa wouldn't die so easily. You of all people should know that best."

Zack slowly regained his breath. He stood up and ran a hand through his hair. Frustration was evident on his face as he pursed his lips. "What do you need me to do?"

"We can help too!" Aerith and Yuffie volunteered in unison.

Vincent nodded. "Good, glad you know you guys are on board. So we'll need you to…"

* * *

The water darkened as Cloud swan further and further into the ocean. With every second he swam, the temperature dropped—getting colder and colder. He opened his eyes in the water—searching for Tifa. The salty water stung his eyes, causing him to squint as he searched for her. Looking left and right, he saw nothing but aquatic animals swimming around him. _'Shit!'_ He mentally cursed to himself. Damn, he was running out of breath. He looked around really quick, holding back the small amount of air her had left in his lungs. _'Wait, what was that?'_ Squinting his eyes, he looked towards the dark object floating in the ocean. _'Tifa!'_ He started swimming out towards her, but the air was slowly escaping from his lungs. Immediately, he swam towards the surface. He gasped for air and dove back into the water, looking for the dark object floating in the water. He swam out further into the ocean, once again to the object in the water. With every movement, he pushed himself closer and closer to the object, which he could finally confirm to be a body—Tifa's body. When it was within an arm's length, he extended out his arm; bringing the Tifa close and to his body.

He quickly swam to the surface, gasping for air once his head bobbed above the waters. "Tifa!" He looked over at her with worry, lightly patted her cheek, and hoped for her to open her eyes. "Damn it!" He brushed his thumb over the bleeding cut on Tifa's forehead. "Stop bleeding, stop bleeding." He chanted in despair.

"Cloud!" Vincent's voice called from the boat.

He looked up at Vincent and saw a rope being thrown down at him.

"Climb up!"

Wrapping the rope around his right arm and securing Tifa in his left, he waited as they pulled him up.

"PULL!" The shipmates shouted to one another, pulling on the rope to bring Cloud and the unconscious Tifa up to the deck. "PULL!"

Once Cloud reached the deck, he quickly laid Tifa down and fell on all fours; gasping for air. Crewmembers quickly came to their sides, holding blankets for them to warm up in.

"Move over!" A crewmember with some aid supplies in a small bag shoved through the crowd. "I'm the ship's medic, so move!" He quickly knelt down besides Tifa and checked for her breathing and pulse. "There's water in her lungs. I might need to perform CPR." He quickly provided a rescue breath, one every five seconds. He listened for her breathing once again, but nothing.

Cloud waited on the side, an anxious look present on his face. Shivering from the breeze, he tightened the blanket around his body. He grit his teeth as his hands tightly clutched the blanket; he tried his best to wait patiently for the outcome.

The medic then placed both hands on top of Tifa's chest, counting as he did thirty compressions. Quickly, he gave her two rescue breaths—sealing her mouth with his and holding her nose close. He continued with the process. Anxiety filled the air as everyone stood around nervously, hoping and waiting for Tifa to awaken. After the third set of compressions, the medic began to lose hope. "I, I don't think she's gonna make it." A defeated look fell on his face.

Anger, sadness, anxiety flooded Cloud once he heard that line. His breath hitched in his throat as he watched the scene before him. He balled his fists, it pissed him off that there wasn't anything else that he could do. Maybe, if only he had jumped in earlier, swam faster, founder her quicker—_something_.

"You can't just give up!" Zack argued. "How can you just give up like that? You're a medic aren't? How can you just give up on a patient like that?" He growled and narrowed his eyes.

The medic grit his teeth. "Y-you're right." He stuttered. "I'll try again." He set his hands back on her chest and continued with compression. "…10! 11! 12—!"

He stopped once Tifa lurched forward and threw her head to the side; coughing and vomiting seawater. Once all the seawater escaped from her lungs; she groaned and flopped back down.

A breath of relief escaped from Cloud's lips. All the negative emotions dispersed in an instant, only the feeling of relief flooded his now relaxed body.

"Give me a blanket." The medic ordered and quickly wrapped the blanket around her soaking body. He grabbed a cloth from his supply bag and held it to the wound on her forehead. "We have to take her to her room and get her out of these clothes or she'll catch hypothermia. And I need to clean the cut on her forehead."

"I'll help change her." Aerith volunteered.

"I'll carry her." Vincent grabbed Tifa from the medic's arms—carrying her bridal style—leading the medic and their friends to the room.

* * *

"Thanks for…you know." Vincent reluctantly said to Cloud outside of Tifa's room.

"No problem." Replied Cloud, who was now in some dry clothes, but his hair was still a little wet.

"I don't get it." Zack furrowed his brows.

"Get what?" He raised a brow.

"Why did you jump in after her?" Vincent continued. "I thought you hated her."

"I didn't hate her."

"Fine, 'don't trust her." Zack rolled his eyes.

"I trust her." Cloud folded his arms.

"But what about that time—"

Cloud cut Zack off midway. "It was a stupid mistake I made."

"Then why didn't you say something?" Yuffie yelled.

"Yeah!" Zack glared. "If you just said something then we all would've been fine and happy."

"I—" Cloud began.

"Geez! Thanks for getting everyone all mad at each other Cloud." Yuffie huffed.

"Seriously! Thank. A. Lot." Zack growled.

"…" Cloud was at a loss for words. Were they serious? Throwing the all the blame at him like that. It wasn't his fault that they wouldn't listen to him. He mentally cursed them. Damn they could be so ignorant and stupid at times. Well for Zack and Yuffie, that would be almost all the time.

"Well it's fine now. As long as we all know the truth and we've made amends." Aerith said with a smile. Aerith, oh Aerith, she was always the mediator—always the opportunist and trying to make everything better.

* * *

Tifa jolted forward as she awoke from her unconscious state, but a sharp pain shot through her head once she did this.

A hand placed on her shoulders gently pushed her back down onto the bed. "Are you okay?" A soothing voice sounded in her ears.

"Huh?" Tifa quickly turned her head to look at him, causing another sharp pain to shoot through her head.

"Are you okay?" He repeated.

She gave a slow nod. "Yeah…"

"I'm Shawn, the ship medic. I've been taking care of you since you got back onto the boat." He introduced himself. His green eyes softened when they met with her wine colored ones. "Do you remember your name? The date? Where you are? Age?" He ran a hand through his brown hair.

Tifa closed her eyes, "Tifa Sierra. Spring, the fifteenth day. A boat to Midgar. Eighteen."

Shawn nodded. "Good. I guess you have a slight concussion, but overall you'll be fine. Do you remember what happened earlier?"

"I leaned over the railing, lost my balance, fell overboard, and hit my head?"

"That pretty much sums it up." He stood and headed for the door. "I'll go get your friends for you then."

Tifa nodded and slowly sat up. "Thanks." She groaned and lightly touched the bandaged cut on her forehead. "Damn, that hurts."

"Well I bet." Zack said as he and their friends entered the room. He walked over to her bed and leaned towards her. He brushed away her bangs and brushed a finger over the bandage.

"Ouch." She flinched. "Careful now."

"Sorry, sorry."

"So how do you feel?" Yuffie bounced over to the bed.

"Okay, my head hurts a little though." Sighing, she put a hand on her head.

"I got you some water." Aerith handed Tifa a small glass.

She smiled, but calmly rejected the glass. "I think I had enough water for the day."

"Understandable."

"Well you're doing fine. I have some herbal medicine for you." Shawn placed a small bottle of grounded herbs on the table in the room. "Just boil a pinch in a cup of water and take it two times a day. It should help with your head pain."

Vincent nodded. "I'll make sure of that."

Shawn nodded. "Then I'll take my leave and allow for you all to catch up."

"Shawn." Tifa called out.

He turned to her with a smile. "Yes?"

"Thank you." A soft smile graced her lips as her cheeks tinged with a pink color. "For saving my life and all."

"No problem. It's my job." He grinned.

"Yeah and he was about to give—oof!" Zack groaned when Vincent elbowed him in the stomach.

"What was that?" Tifa questioned.

"Ah, nothing, nothing." Zack grinned nervously as he rubbed his stomach. He glared at Vincent through the corner of his eyes. "_Nothing_."

Shawn ignored Zack and continued his conversation with Tifa. "Actually, I wouldn't have had the chance to help you if it weren't for this guy here." He pointed to Cloud.

"What?" Tifa turned her attention to Cloud.

"Yeah! Cloud jumped over the rails and dove into the ocean to save you." Yuffie explained.

He simply ran a hand through his hair and awkwardly looked away.

"Um, can I have a moment with Cloud please?"

"What?" Vincent raised a brow at Tifa.

"I wanna be alone with Cloud."

"_Why_?" Zack questioned with irritation.

"Zack…" Tifa growled in a threatening tone.

He put his hands up in defense. "Fine, fine." He repeated the second word with annoyance. "Let's go guys." He growled and headed towards the door with Shawn trailing from behind.

Vincent raised a brow and swiftly turned to the door with a small huff. Yuffie glanced at Aerith with worry as she gently tugged at her arm. "Let's uh, let them talk."

Aerith stared at Cloud with a dazed look. There was just something about the two being together that irked her greatly. She didn't know what it was; maybe it was just the fact that he would be alone with a girl, who knows. But if that _was_ the reason, damn was she being one of those possessive creeper girls—it gave her shivers. She shook the thoughts away; it was probably just her damn hormones acting up. Yeah, that was it. Hormones.

"Aerith?" Yuffie's gentle voice called out.

"I'm, I'm coming." She replied hesitantly as she slowly backed out of the room, forcing herself to tear her eyes away from the two.

They waited a minute or two after the door was shut, waiting to see if anyone was lingering on the other side.

"Well have a seat." Tifa offered with a smile.

He simply nodded and did as told. He turned his head to the left and stared through the small window in the wall of the room.

"The breeze is nice isn't it?"

He nodded.

"Thank you, you know, for saving me." She said with a small smile.

He returned his attention to her, locking eyes with her. "I promised didn't I?"

Damn those crystal blue eyes and dreamy blond hair, if Tifa was the average girl...well of course she would be blushing like no tomorrow or trying to hide her face in embarrassment. But then again, she wasn't the average girl now was she? No. She didn't blush, she didn't try to hide her face in embarrassment—she smiled. Yes, she simply smiled that sweet smile of hers as if he was nothing more than a friend. "Yeah. Yeah, you did." Her eyes softened. "Thank you." She turned back to the window, eyeing the sunset and seagulls roaming above the sea.

"Since we're all friends again, shall we split the rooms into girls and boys?" He suggested, the idea of Tifa alone in a room with Vincent and Zack made him slightly queasy as well as uneasy.

She chuckled, "sounds good to me." She kept her gaze at the window.

"We'll move the guys to my room and the girls in here later then."

"Mhm." Her voice was soft as she replied in a mesmerized tone. Her first time out at sea, she couldn't help but be captivated by the naturalistic image outside of her small window. She wanted deeply to go back above deck, but she was probably banned from leaving her room for the time being. Heck, she was probably banned from going to the deck for all eternity.

"So I'm pretty sure our plan didn't involve you falling overboard and nearly dying." He said with a smirk.

She turned to him as a small chuckle escaped her lips. "Plans change." She returned her gaze to the window.

It irked him a little, the fact that she'd rather pay attention to the sunset than him. "Hopefully for the better next time."

"Mhm." She replied with that dazed voice.

Cloud watched as the rays from the sun shone through the window and at Tifa. Her wine colored eyes brightened and the rays reflected off of her eye color. Her raven hair gleamed slightly in the light, making it contrast against her light skin tone. A small breeze entered the room; sending shivers down his spine and lightly making her raven locks flutter in her face. He kept his eyes on her as she brought a hand up to brush her hair behind her ear. If he could capture this moment, he was sure he could sell it for over a thousand gold.

Simply put,

It was breathtakingly beautiful.

* * *

**Alright!**

**There's chapter 13!**

**Hope you all enjoyed it :)**

**Took me a while to write it, sorry! But I made it long just to make up for it :) heh heh.**

**I've just been loaded with college apps junk and senior year, weddings, birthdays, sleep, brain farts, homework, more brain farts, and looking for inspiration music. LOL**

**Yes, inspiration music. For me to write a chapter, I need to listen to songs, which will usually end up on repeat until I'm done with the chapter. Sigh. lol  
**

**Sorry if there's grammar errors -_- it's like midnight and my brain isn't functioning that well :P**

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**: Glad you love it! and thanks for adding! :D Also, what does itooshi mean?**

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Irish-Brigid**: Thank youuu, yeahh I know; me and my grammar issues -_- it seems that every time I write and upload a chapter, I'm running on no sleep and I forget to spell-check. Sigh. Sorry :( But I hope the issues are minimizing D: lol..ummmmm I don't really know their height. LOL I picture them to be around the same height, both tall men with similar hairstyles and extremely built-that's good enough for me. loll besides, for a short little girl like Rima, I imagine for her, Cloud and Zack's height from her prospective to be very similar. Trust me, as a small asian chick, all tall people look like they're the same size lol :)**

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Chibi Emo-chan**: Loll :) the thief is a girl, it says "**_Just as he was about to reach his hand into his pocket, a little girl with short red hair ran into him._**"** ** sorry did i miss a she or her? if i did it's probably because originally, the thief was going to be a boy, buttttt I couldn't find a boy that would suit the part, so i change it to a girl last minute. I believe her name is Felicia right? Correct me if I'm wrong.**** :O **

tatoo26**: haha, i like how you're always my first reviewer for every story I write x] GLAD YOU LIKED IT :D haha, yes I'm glad you said Rima (moogle girl) came off as an adult in a little girl's body. that's what I was aiming for :D **

**Well, this chapter is finally all wrapped up :) After I get to my other stories, you will see another update :) And uh...I'm ASSUMING I'll have a story in before summer, but in case I don't...**

**I want to give you guys a heads up that in summer, NO CHAPTERS WILL BE UPLOADED DURING THE MONTH OF JULY. Heads up. Sorry! I'm gonna be in France for the whole month of July. But I'll probably have a couple of chapters posted before I leave and after I get back-in August. :) Hey, maybe I'll get a lot of inspiration during my month away and write like a chapter once a week? who knows? x] no promises...lol**

**KK**

**THANKS AGAIN**

**_-sportiegrl~_  
**


	14. Chapter 14: Junon

**Enjoy!  
**

* * *

**Chapter 14: Junon  
**

"Finally! Land!" Yuffie shouted as she ran off the boat and onto the port.

"That was a long trip on sea." Aerith sighed.

"Three days to be exact." Zack yawned.

Cloud grabbed hold of the reins to his chocobo. "At least we're finally here."

"Yup, we're finally here." Vincent stretched his arms and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Midgar." Tifa breathed.

"Midgar?" The Captain questioned as he neared Tifa. "Oh, this isn't Midgar."

"What?" They all yelled in unison.

"Wait, wait, wait." Zack held up a hand. "If this isn't Midgar, then where are we?"

"Junon." The Captain answered with a grin.

"Why are we in Junon? We were told the boat was headed towards Midgar." Vincent glowered.

"The weather in Midgar is horrible. It's impossible to dock over there right now. So we had to dock in Junon. If you want to catch another boat ride to Midgar, it'll cost another hundred gold and we probably won't leave port until a few more days."

"So? What are we gonna do?" Yuffie asked.

"Let's just head over by land." Tifa suggested. "We still have our chocobos."

"I like that plan." Vincent stated. He looked around and saw everyone nod their heads in agreement. "Alright then. We'll go by land."

* * *

"Is it just me or is there an awful lot of soldiers in this city?" Zack questioned as he eyed his surroundings. Watching and counting every Shinra soldier that he passed by. So far, he was at ten.

"Well..." Vincent surveyed the guarded buildings. "Junon used to be a flourishing fishing city, but once Shinra got a hold of the city, they turned it into another one of their military bases." He explained, disgust and resentment oozed from his words.

"You little rat!" A gruff voice shouted while a childlike voice screamed.

"Over there!" Tifa shouted and ran over to the gathering crowd. They pushed and shoved through the crowd until they reached the middle.

"How dare you touch me, you filthy little rat!" The large, plump man roared, his long black beard shifted as he did so. With the jewels around his neck, the rings on his fingers, and the extravagant, green outfit; it was obvious he was of the upper class. One of the aristocrats. He had long black hair and some rather bushed eyebrows. The medals on his coat as well as the scar across his right eyebrow and eye showed proof of his experience on the battlefield.

Cloud's jaws clenched as he laid his eyes on the scene before him. His fists tightened and his eyes narrowed into slits. This scene before him reminded too much of his childhood and of the heartless people from the streets.

"I'm sorry!" A brown haired girl knelt on the ground apologizing. "It was an accident! I didn't mean to run into you." Fearful tears ran down her cheeks.

"You think that's enough? An apology isn't even _close_ to enough for being touched by scum like you!" He lifted his leg, making his move to kick the child.

"That's enough!" Tifa ran in front of the child and kicked the man's leg away. "The one that's a scum is you!"

"What?"

"She's a mere child! Harming her for simply bumping into you? How repulsive!"

Nanaki stepped forward, letting a low growl escape from his throat. Murmurs and shrieks were heard through the crowd. Some slowly backed away from the crowd in fear of the red lion.

Although the man was fearful of the red lion, his glare hardened and fists clenched in anger. Never has anyone in his life ever shamed him in public; and for it to be a woman! How repugnant! "Guards! Arrest this woman!"

Tifa's eyes widened. "What!"

"Run!" Cloud rushed forward and swept the child into his arms. His free hand quickly tugged Tifa's arm, bringing realization of escape to her mind.

"Shit!" Zack cursed. "Get the chocobos!"

The group rushed to their chocobos and quickly mounted them.

"Stop! Stop them!" The man yelled in fury.

Shouts were heard as the crowd dispersed in fear and from the guards chasing after them.

* * *

They rode on, until the shouts were inaudible.

"I think we're safe." Aerith concluded as they all slowed their chocobos to a stop.

"Up ahead." The girl spoke.

"Huh?" Cloud looked at the child riding with him on the chocobo with a questioning gaze.

"My house. It's up ahead in the Old Village of Junon." She pointed further down the road.

Vincent and Zack exchanged looks. "Well," Zack sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "I guess we have no choice but to take her back home, huh?"

"I guess so." Vincent kicked the side of his chocobo, motioning it to move. "Let's go."

* * *

The Old Village of Junon was a rather dark, ratty old village that resided near the lower cliffs of the Junon land, because of the location being closer to the sea for fishing. While Old Junon was near the lower cliffs, the New Village of Junon created by Shinra was located on the upper cliffs. Because of this arrangement, from noon until the evening, the buildings of New Junon cause a blockage of sunlight. The location of New Junon intercepts the sunlight, forbidding it to reach Old Junon resulting in the reason why Old Junon is now considered the dark slums of Junon.

The once thriving fishing village was destroyed the moment Shinra took over. All the fish from the sea were caught, causing a massive decline in population. More people from Midgar immigrated to New Junon, which at the time was _the_ place to live for Shinrans. Because of the new villagers, the town became over populated. More people in the town meant more and more waste was dumped into the ocean, adding to the decline of sea animals. As the New Village of Junon thrived to became one the of the greatest military bases and was solely for the upper class to reside in, the Old Village of Junon is the slums where the poor watch as their home is day by day, slowly deteriorating into nothing.

"No one's home?" Aerith asked as she stepping inside the rundown home. Holes were in the walls, the door to the front of the house seemed as if it would break off anytime soon, chipped and rundown furniture, and the confined space of the home was hardly enough for three people to reside in. Even a family of rodents wouldn't want to reside in that house.

The little girl cast her eyes downward. "Grandma and Grandpa are trying to find work."

Tifa pursed her lips and let out a breath. She walked over to the girl and knelt down in front of her. "My name is Tifa." She grinned, "what's your name?"

A meek smile graced her lips. "Priscilla."

"Priscilla..." Tifa let the name roll off her tongue. "I like it." She grinned once more. "It's a cute name. Now, you see those people behind me?" She gestured her thumb back towards her friends.

Priscilla nodded.

"That's Vincent, Zack, Cloud, Aerith, Yuffie, and the red lion in Nanaki." She introduced, pointing to each one of them.

"Nice to meet you Priscilla!" The group greeted in unison, all but Vincent and Cloud gave her a smile.

Nanaki simply gave a small roar.

Priscilla laughed. "Nice to meet you too!" Her eyes surveyed the group, looking from left to right until she stopped and stared at one particular person.

"What?" Cloud asked in a gruff voice. It was obvious he was uncomfortable with her stare.

She grinned and ran over to him, engulfing him in a tight hug.

"What the-!"

"Earlier," she looked up at him with big brown eyes. "Thank you for saving me earlier." A wide smile was on her face.

"Eh...but _I _was the one that saved you." Tifa said with a look of disbelief.

Cloud simply stared on with confusion.

"I was so scared." Priscilla continued, ignoring Tifa.

"That's why I saved you..." Tifa muttered.

"I'm so happy you were the one to save me." She finished with a sigh of relief and happy smile.

"Unbelievable." Tifa put her head in her hands.

"It seems that Priscilla is rather infatuated with Cloud." Vincent concluded with a smirk.

"What does infatuated mean?" She asked.

"It means that you-"

Cloud cut Zack off with a glare. "Please don't put things in her head."

"It seems like someone has a rival~" Yuffie whispered loud enough for only Aerith to hear.

"It's cute." Aerith smiled.

"Cute?"

"Yup. Puppy love at her age is cute." She grinned and leaned over towards Priscilla. "So do you like Cloud, Priscilla?"

She nodded vigorously. "Yup! I'm gonna get married to him!" She extended her arm out and held a hand up at Aerith. "So please keep a distance from him, lady!"

Aerith's jaw dropped; Vincent and Cloud's eyes widened in surprise; Tifa stifled a laughter; while Zack and Yuffie toppled over in laughter.

"Ba-ha-ha!" Yuffie pointed and laughed. "I-!" She tried catching her breath, but damn. It was just too funny. It wasn't ever day that you saw Aerith get told off by a little kid. "And you said it was cute. Ha-ha!"

Aerith stood up straight and shot her a look.

"Sorry, sorry." She wiped a tear and held her abs, which were burning from the laughter. "It was just too funny."

"Now, now." Tifa started as she stood up from her spot. "You shouldn't say that to people, Priscilla."

Priscilla turned and held her hand out at Tifa. "You too, old lady!"

Tifa's jaw dropped. A vein pounded on her forehead. Old? Old! Exactly how can someone so cute be so rude?

"Ha-ha!" Zack pointed. "She called you old!"

Tifa glared and marched over to him.

"Ow!" Zack keeled over, immediately propping his hands on the injury that Tifa produced on his head a mere few seconds ago.

"You have anything else to say idiot?" She threatened, showing him her clenched fist.

"Ha, ha..." He chuckled nervously. "I'm fine."

"Good. Now as for you," she turned to Priscilla, giving her a pissed off look.

The look was obviously working, considering that fact that Priscilla's hands clenched tighter around Cloud. And add to the fact she swallowed a gulp of saliva and was shaking nervously.

"You," Tifa pointed a daring finger. "Need to learn some manners."

* * *

"Ow, ow, ow! I'm sowwy!" Priscilla cried as Tifaf finally let go of her now reddened cheeks. She never knew being pinched could have ever hurt so much; especially on the cheeks. If anything, it should be a form of torture for detained criminals.

"For?" Tifa raised a brow.

Priscilla rubbed her cheeks and huffed. "For disrespecting you and Ms. Aerith."

"Ah," Aerith smiled. "It's okay."

"_And_?"

"_And_?" Priscilla cried in horror. "And what!"

Tifa shot her a look, as if saying '_don't play dumb_.'

She sighed. "And I will never do it again."

"Good." Tifa nodded in approval. "Apology accepted."

"Geez," Zack whistled. "Try not to abuse our kids when we have them. Alright Tifa?"

As if on cue, two strong fists knocked Zack on the back of his head. Forcing him to double over and cry in pain. "Ow!" Once again, his hands covered his new injuries.

"Don't get ahead of yourself." Vincent warned.

"..." Cloud simply looked away, as if he had nothing to do with the newly inflicted injury.

"Well, next time, can you guys stop aiming for my head?" He let out another small cry of pain and rubbed his injury.

"Yeah," Tifa smirked. "You keep hitting that head of his and he just gonna become even more stupid."

He shot her a look. "You shut up."

"Make me."

"Why don't you-"

"Alright kids." Vincent said in annoyance.

"She started it."

Vincent shot Zack a warning look.

"Hmp. Jerk." He muttered under his breath.

Vincent rolled his eyes. Exactly how childish can this guy be? Another bonk was heard as Zack was seen rubbing his injured head once again.

"Damn it, Vincent!"

He shrugged. "It slipped."

Tifa shook her head and sighed. "Priscilla, can you tell us about the man from earlier?"

"Mr. Heidegger?" She asked with a meek voice.

"I guess, if that's his name."

"Heidegger? _The_ Heidegger with the horse laugh?"

"You know him Vincent?"

He shook his head. "I know _of_ him." He folded his arms and leaned against the wall behind him. "He's a high ranking officer of Shinra's military. He's in charge of overseeing Junon, it's citizens, and training the soldiers. A _strong_ opponent."

"And a bastard of sorts." An elderly man said as he entered the house. "And who might you all be?"

"Grandpa! Grandma!" Priscilla called and ran to the two, engulfing them in bear hugs.

"I'm Tifa, that's Vincent, Zackm Cloud, Aerith, Yuffie, and Nanaki. Don't worry, he's only harmfull when there's danger." She reintroduced.

"Well, you can just call us Grandma and Grandpa. Everyone else in this old village does." Grandma gave a warm smile. The two sat at the table, resting from a long days of work.

"So why were you talked about the bastard?" Grandpa questioned.

"Well," Aerith hesitantly spoke up. "We had a rather _unfortunate_ meeting with him earlier."

"Oh?"

"In simple terms, we saved Priscilla from him." Zack simplified.

"Saved?"

"Well actually, _I_ saved her from Heidegger." Tifa shot Zack a look.

"It was like a fairytale Grandpa!" Priscilla's eyes lit up. "When I was about to be attacked by the demon, Cloud came running and saved me!"

"Actually, it was me." Tifa muttered. Was she really invisible during that whole fiasco?

Ignoring her, Priscilla continued. "He beat up the demon and swept me up in his arms and rode off to the sunset with me!"

"That never happened..." Cloud muttered under his breath. "And I was just trying to get away."

"Wasn't it still early in the afternoon when that happened?" Yuffie whispered under her breath to Aerith, whom simply shrugged in reply.

"What a wild imagination..." Zack said to himself in amusement.

Priscilla ignored the comments and turned to Cloud, clasping his hands in hers. "I got it! I'm going to be Cloud's wife!"

Zack and Yuffie nearly doubled over in laughter.

The elders shook their heads and hung it in shame and embarrassment of their granddaughter.

Aerith stared on with shock and disbelief. She was already behind in the race of a seemingly thirteen-year-old that they just met saved not long ago.

Vincent simply stared with amusement and interest. Never has he seen this happen before and watching Cloud's expression just made it all worthwhile.

Cloud. His eyes blinked and blinked. He froze. Unsure of what to do. How to react. What to say. Damn, it's tough being a good looking guy.

"Geez," Tifa bent forward and pinched the girl's ear, pulling her away from Cloud.

"Ow, ow, ow!"

"First of all, _NONE_ of that happened. Second, for the hundredth time, _I _saved you. And third, Cloud is _far_ too old for you."

"Hmp!" Priscilla crossed her arms, "You just want Cloud for yourself!"

Aerith and Yuffie's jaw dropped.

Zack raised an annoyed brow.

The elders once again hung and shook their head in shame and embarrassment. They needed to have a talk with their granddaughter late about manners and respect.

Vincent glared at the girl. He didn't know whether he wanted to teach her a lesson himself or give her back to Heidegger.

Cloud coughed and awkwardly looked away.

Tifa simply raised a delicate brow. "Huh?" She gave her a bewildered look. "You need to cool it and stop jumping to conclusions."

"He-!"

"Go to your room, Priscilla." Grandpa ordered.

"But-"

Grandpa shot her a threatening look, daring her to argue back.

Sighing, Priscilla reluctantly trudged down the hall to her room.

"Now back to business." Grandpa turned to the group. "All of you need to leave town. Since you saved Priscilla from Heidegger, there's a high chance that he has put up wanted posters and rewards for you around Junon."

Vincent narrowed his brows. "And how would you know?"

The elders exchanged a hesitant glance. "This." Grandma pulled a poster from her pouch. The ink was a little smeared, but dried for the most part. "They're already all around town."

The poster contained a rather close portrait of Tifa. A reward was guaranteed of five hundred gold.

"I can guarantee that because of the reward, the people of Old Junon wouldn't hesitate to turn you in."

"Would you?" She asked quietly.

The elders exchanged another glance before Grandpa responded, "No."

"Why?" Zack questioned. "The economy is horrible in this old town. Five hundred gold would be enough for you and your family to last on for a long while."

Grandpa sighed. "You saved Priscilla."

"I see." Tifa said in a low voice.

"It's for the best. Especially with General Sephiroth in town, it's bound to end horribly."

"General Sephiroth? The strongest man in the Jenovian army?" Yuffie gaped.

He nodded. "Yes. He arrived right before sunset. And it won't be pretty if you get caught while he's here." He informed Tifa.

"Sephiroth. He's also next inline for the throne of the Jenovian Empire." Vincent remembered.

"Is that so..." Tifa said to herself.

"Tell you what." Grandpa stood and grabbed a few blankets from the shelf. "You all can stay here for the night, but you all need to leave tomorrow morning. If word gets out that we were harboring you here, the gods know what Heidegger will do to all of us."

* * *

Tifa glanced around the dark road, subconsciously pulling the cloak tighter around her body as she walked through the cold night. It was amazing that she managed to sneak out of that house without waking anyone up, especially Nanaki. She glanced back, so far, there was no sign of a tail. Perfect. She pulled the hood further over her head and proceeded down the road to New Junon.

It wasn't hard to find Heidegger's home. The moment she stepped foot on New Junon territory, it was obvious as to where he lived. Only one that was blind or really stupid wouldn't be able to figure out where he lived.

Tifa hid behind a tree, examining the mansion before her. Stone walls barricaded the mansion. Guards patrolled the outskirts of the walls, there were probably two soldiers patrolling each side. Eight soldier in total. And if she had to guess, there were probably another eight patrolling the other side of the walls as well.

Quickly, but stealthy, she climbed upon the branches of the trees, making sure to disguise herself behind the leaves as she stayed close to the body of the tree. She was right. Another set of guards patrolled the interior of the walls.

"Damn." She muttered under her breath. It'll be a bitch to find a way inside the mansion.

She carefully climbed down the tree and wandered around New Junon, away from the mansion.

"There _has_ to be some way I can get in." She pondered while roaming the streets. "Something..." She stopped in her tracks and looked to the alley on her left. "Hm..."

She walked along the alleyway. Old papers, trash, her wanted sign, rocks, ropes, more trash, stray animals, old food, and even more trash. Nothing there was of use. Wait.

An idea hit her.

"Yeah." She nodded to herself. "This will do."

Once she grabbed her needed items; the wanted sign, a heavy rock, and some ropes, she made her way back to the tree near the mansion.

Climbing up once again, she proceeded with her plan. She grabbed both her wanted sign and written note, wrapping them tightly around the rock. She tossed the rock in her palm a few times before nodding of approval. "Here I go."

She readied her arm. She took her aim. In one fluid motion, her arm rotated forward, flinging the rock at the wall next to the guard's head. Tifa quickly pressed her body against the trunk, making sure that no part of her would stick out.

"Ah!" The guard let out a fearful cry.

"What's wrong?" The second guard rushed over.

"A rock! A rock just flew at me! It came from over there!" He pointed to the direction of the tree.

"I'll go check it out." The second guard bared his sword, ready in case one was to attack him. Slowly, he scavenged the area around the tree. "There's nothing!" The guard ran back. "He probably ran away with his tail between his legs once he saw me." He said with a smirk.

Tifa rolled her eyes and muttered. "Please, an ant wouldn't be afraid of you."

"Hey, look at the rock. There's something wrapped around it." He grabbed the rock from the ground and unwrapped the papers.

"What does it say?" The first guard questioned, peering over to look at the papers.

The second guard's eyes widened. "We have to take this to Lord Heidegger right now!"

The first guard looked over the papers and nodded vigorously. "Yeah. Open the gates!"

Tifa smirked. "Mission accomplished." She reached into her pockets and pulled the ropes out. "Step two." She sighed and hung her head. "They're going to kill me." She climbed back down and ran back to the house in Old Junon.

* * *

"Open up!" A voice called from the door as a series of knocks were heard.

The group looked at each other, unsure of what to do. The voice barking the order sounded too similar to the voice they were dreading to hear.

"Tifa, hide!" Grandma whispered and pulled her to the back of the house. She opened a small closet. "Stay in here."

Nodding, Tifa did as told. But once the door was closed, she proceeded with the second part of her plan.

"Open up!" The barking voice repeated.

Given the okay signal, Grandpa slowly opened the door and bowed his head to the self-proclaimed lord of Junon. "I'm sorry it took a while to open this old door."

"Hm..." Heidegger pursed his lips and combed his beard with his fingers. "It's fine. Since you have what I want, I'll be nice about it." He stepped into the house with his entourage of soldiers. "Now where is she?"

"Ex-excuse me?"

"The girl." He eyed the people in the house. "There's an awful lot of people here."

"Ah, they're just travelers that needed a place to stay."

"Hm." He turned back to Grandpa. "So? Where is she?"

"I'm sorry, I have no idea what you're talking about."

"This," Heidegger held up a paper. "You sent me this, did you not?"

Grandpa grabbed the paper and read aloud. "The wanted girl is residing at my house in the northwest corner of Old Junon. Please come by for her at Sunrise."

"This _is_ the only house located in the northwest region of Old Junon. So she's here is she not?"

"I-"

A sudden bang came from the back of the house.

"What was that?" Heidegger questioned.

"Ah!"

Then, a series of loud bangs came about.

"Some go check it out." Heidegger ordered.

One man nodded and hurried to the back of the house.

The group exchange worried looks. What the hell was Tifa thinking? Making all that noise! Didn't she know her life was in danger?

"Sir!" The man came back with Tifa, whom was bound by the ankles and wrist. "I found her!"

Everyone's eyes widened.

Jaws were dropped.

They were all frozen in their spots.

Each one thinking the same thing. _'Shit, what do we do?'_

Heidegger smirked in victory. "Here's your gold." He tossed a pouch to Grandpa. "Thanks old man. Bring the girl along."

"Yes sir!" The soldier slung Tifa over his shoulder.

Tifa looked up at the group, giving them a grin. As she was carried out of the house, a neatly folded piece of paper dropped from her hands.

* * *

It was a while after the soldiers and Heidegger left the home. Everyone was still in shock of what happened not too long ago.

Tifa was caught. She was gone.

"What did you do!" Zack roared and grabbed Grandpa by the collar.

"Hey! Let Grandpa go!" Priscilla kicked his leg.

"Piss off!" He barked. "I thought you said you wouldn't tell!" Rage filled his eyes.

"Zack, let him go." Vincent ordered.

"Give me a good reason. This guy betrayed us." His glare hardened.

"There has to be a good explanation."

Zack whipped his head around. "And _what_ would that be? They took her! Who knows what they'll do to her now! and this guy sold us out!"

"Calm down." Vincent closed his eyes.

"Calm down? Calm down?" His voice thundered. "I guess I just care about her more than anyone else, that's why I can't calm down as easy as you!"

Vincent snapped his eyes open. "Shut up!" A fist flew to Zack's right cheek.

A loud thud was heard as Zack's body made contact with the floor.

"You're _not_ the only one that has to deal with this, got it?" Vincent narrowed his eyes. "Beating up Grandpa isn't going to solve anything. And Tifa wouldn't approve of it."

Zack kept his mouth shut and continued on with his glare.

Cloud stood by the sidelines. His jaws clenched and his piercing blue eyes began turning into a green color. "Why?" The people in the room looked at him. "Why did you do it?"

"Cloud..." Aerith said softly. She saw his eyes, the green was beginning to take over. That only meant one thing. Cloud was about to raise some hell.

"I..." Grandpa started. "I didn't do it. I don't even know where this note came from."

"You didn't do it. I know you didn't do it." Grandma reassured.

"Then who did?" Cloud's eyes narrowed.

Yuffie darted her eyes around the room. She noticed a small white, folded piece of paper lying on the ground. "Hey guys, look at this." She bent down and picked it up. Unfolding it and read it to herself. Her eyes widened when she finished reading it.

"What is it Yuffie?" Aerith walked over to her and grabbed the paper that Yuffie handed her. "No way..." Aerith gasped. All eyes turned to her.

Vincent cocked a brow. "What is it?"

Aerith cleared her throat and read the note aloud. "First off, don't get mad. I, Tifa, sent the note Heidegger."

"What?" Zack cried in disbelief. "Why!"

"Let her finish." Yuffie hushed.

"I had my reasons. One, Grandpa and Grandma needed the money."

The elders widened their eyes and exchanged sad looks.

"Two, that Sephiroth guy seemed like my key to Jenova. Well, I'll be fine. Don't worry. Also, in case I'm sent to execution, I'm counting on you guys to save me. Alright! That's it. See you guys later!"

"You're kidding me." Vincent closed his eyes and let out a deep breath. "That dumbass."

"Wait, wait, wait." Zack held up a hand. "So she _willingly_ did this?"

"It seems so." Yuffie answered.

"Damn it!" Zack banged on the wall next to him. "That idiot!"

Cloud ran a hand through his spiky locks and let out a relieved sigh. "Geez." His eyes slowly reverted back to its blue color. "So what's the plan?"

* * *

**Alright! There's chapter 14! :)**

**Sorry it took a while, MAJOR writers block :/**

BlUeFIAmE**: Haha, it's cool. Glad you liked it! :)**

devil M**: Yay~ thank you! :)**

khfan forlife**: haha I'm glad you liked it! :) Haha thanks for reminding me about that! I decide to delete that part, it'll make it harder for me to write heh heh...**

Chibi Emo-Chan**: Haha, thanks!**

tatoo26**: LOL I've never heard that song before...well I'm not really a bieber fan haha hmmm i wonder when they'll confess too lol**

**And last, but not least, thanks to **iNuocMam**, **Ash09**, **elenaluna1**, ****, **FerC**, **LivieLi**, **silverofaheartless**, and **TheSageOfHyrule** for favoriting and adding my story to your alerts! :D**

**I hope you guys liked this chapter! Took forever to finally think of something ._.**

**Well, review! :) **

**Thanks again guys! :D  
**

**_-sportiegrl out~_  
**


	15. Chapter 15: Jail Break Part 1

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 15: Jail Break Part 1  
**

"Oof!" Tifa grunted as she was thrown to the ground on her side. Her hands were bound together behind her back, preventing her from dodging the impact. "Geez, don't you know how to treat a woman? You didn't have to throw me in my cell, you know? Just walking me in would have been fine." She turned onto her back and sat up, crossing her legs Indian style.

"I know how to treat a _prisoner_." The guard responded, standing by the still open cell door.

"A _woman_ that's a prisoner." She corrected.

A sly smirk etched his features. "Fine. You wanna be treated like a woman?" He dangerously stepped towards her.

_'Crap.'_ Was the only thing that ran through her mind. "What do you think you're doing?" She glared. If there was one thing she learned from Shera, was that no matter the situation, even if you're scared, put up a front and keep acting like a bad ass.

His smirk only widened. "I'm treating you like a woman. Like you wanted." He pushed her back to the ground, pinning her shoulders down so that she couldn't move. "This will be fun."

She growled, "Disgusting bastard!" With all her might, she brought up her knee. Kneeing him right in the stomach, causing him to topple over in pain.

He coughed, gasping for air. "You—you bitch!"

"Ass hole!" She barked, quickly sitting upright and moving as far away from him as possible.

He glared and raised his hand. "Look here you-!"

"I'm looking." A stern voice said from the door of the cell. "And I'm _not_ enjoying what I'm seeing."

The guard froze and turned around to the owner of the voice. "Lord Gast!" The guard immediately got on his knees.

Lord Gast was a man with soft, caring features. He had short brown hair and a brown beard. His glasses touched the rim on his nose. Unlike Heidegger, his outfit was not flashy, it seemed more of something a commoner would wear. Plain, simple, comfortable. To Tifa, he emitted a strong, safe, parental aura, much like the aura her father gave off when he was still alive.

"What's going on here?" Another voice asked.

Lord Gast turned around. "Ah, Sephiroth."

Tifa snapped her head to the silver haired man. Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped. "You!"

Sephiroth turned his head to Tifa and widened his eyes. A small, mild blush crept to his face.

"You two know each other?" Gast questioned.

"Sort of." Sephiroth cleared his throat, a tinge of pink colored his cheeks. "So what happened here?"

"Ah, this guard here," Gast pointed to the guard that was currently shaking like he was about to break into pieces. "Was about to do some rather indecent things to this woman here."

"Is that so." Sephiroth narrowed his eyes at the guard before him. Anger slowly seethed from him. His pale eyes began changing into a darker, louder green.

He turned to the guard. "That is, unless I'm wrong. Was I mistaken at what I saw?"

"..." The guard fiddled his fingers and stayed silent. Sweat beads covered his face. His heart began racing. Damn, he has never been this afraid before in his life.

"Hm." Sephiroth waved his hands, signaling the two guards behind him. "Take him away."

"W-wait!" The guard pleaded as the other two dragged him away. "N-no! Please!"

Sephiroth simply ignored that pleas and turned his attention back to Tifa. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah...thanks."

"Hm..." Gast turned to Tifa with a questioning gaze. "So why are you here?"

"Ah...because-"

"Oh! So this is where you two are." Heidegger called as he approached the them.

"Ew." Tifa welcomed in disgust.

A small, interested smirk crossed Sephiroth's face. Never has he met such an outspoken woman.

"You little rat!" Heidegger roared.

"Fat bastard."

"Tomorrow! I'll have you pay tomorrow." His eyes narrowed in slits.

"As long as it isn't paying for your meals, then I'm fine with it." She smirked.

"You-!"

"Heidegger. Exactly what has this woman done to you?" Gast questioned.

"This _vile_ woman." He pointed a finger, anger emitting from him, but unsure of what to say next to justify his actions towards the woman. "I don't even want to say! I've been shamed by her!" He barked and stormed out.

Gast shook his head. "Same old Heidegger."

"An arrogant man he is." Sephiroth added.

"Well, I'm sorry miss. It seems that you have to stay here." Gast frowned.

Tifa shrugged. "It's alright."

"What's your name?"

"Ti-"

"Are you two coming?" Heidegger's voice barked once again down the hall.

"Well I guess we have to go." Gast stated. "Come along now." He closed the cell door and pulled Sephiroth away.

Tifa sighed and lied on the floor. "I _really_ hope they saw my note."

* * *

"So how do you know her?" Gast questioned.

Sephiroth's face colored once again. "It...it's not like I really know her." He looked away in embarrassment.

Gast raised an interested brow. "Hm...?" A sly smile appeared on his face.

"What?" Sephiroth narrowed his eyes in question.

"Did something happen between you two?"

"No." He replied always immediately.

"Hm...that was a rather quick response."

Sephiroth growled. "Leave it alone."

"You know, it's not every day I see a girl that has the ability to make the _great_ Sephiroth blush." Gast smirked, eying the reactions of the silver haired man beside him.

"Lord Gast, you are one of the few people that I admire on the world." He paused and turned to the man on his left. "So it would be a rather saddening experience if you were to suddenly, _disappear_." He shot Gast a look of warning.

Gast put his hands up in defense, "Alright, alright. I get it." He chuckled. "Hm..."

Sephiroth sighed, "What?" He asked reluctantly, hoping it wasn't another attack on how he met Tifa.

"Nothing really, it's just that, my daughter would be around that girl's age right about now."

"Daughter?" Sephiroth raised a delicate brow. "I didn't know you had a daughter."

"Well," Gast chuckled, "When she was born, you were around three. I highly doubt you would remember her no matter how hard you try."

He shrugged. "So what happened?"

"I wish I knew." Gast sighed, a distant look grew in his eyes. "I wonder if she would have looked like her mother." A soft smile grew on his face.

"Was your wife a beauty?"

"Gorgeous. Exotic." He paused with hesitation as he searched for his next words. "She was...a Cetra."

Sephiroth stopped in place. "A Cetra? But all Cetras were persecuted and killed."

Gast ran a hand through his hair and sighed. His eyes were cast downward and once again distant. "I know." He put his head in his hands, "I know, I know."

"Nibelheim. It was all because of King Pellos and his tyrannical rule." Sephiroth clenched his teeth and balled his fists in anger. "It's a good thing my mother got rid of him."

Gast nodded, "Yes, it's a good thing your mother Jenova is such a peaceful Queen."

* * *

"We need a plan." Vincent stated as his eyes burned holes at the note that Tifa left them.

"We don't have a plan." Aerith frowned and plopped herself in a chair.

"Then think of one." Zack growled in annoyance.

"You know, just saying things like 'we need a plan' and so forth won't really resolve anything." Cloud said, grabbing the note and looking over it once more.

_Hello Everyone,  
_

_I know that by the time you all read this, you will most likely—probably be really pissed at me. Vincent, I know you're probably thinking and saying I was stupid to do this and will yell at me later once you save me. And Zack, you probably tried to kill someone didn't you? Well, I thought this was the best option. Think about it. We have no choice but to stay in Junon and if we got caught, all of us—including the family harboring us would have been killed. Since I was the only wanted one, if i secretly gave myself up, then the family would obtain a much needed reward. Besides, I know you all won't leave me behind. So...I'm waiting for you to save me! Oh yes, before I forget, let me inform you about the perimeter of Heidegger's mansion. There's eight soldiers patrolling the exterior of the wall to surrounding his mansion and another set of eight patrolling the int_e_rior. There's a pair of soldiers assigned to each side of the wall, inside and out. That's all I saw. Well, good luck devising a plan, and I will think of a plan on my side as well. _

_Sincerely, _

_Tifa._

"Geez, that idiot." Vincent growled. He still couldn't believe she did that. He knew her to be reckless, but this was just going too far!

"I'm back." Yuffie announced, walking into the small house.

"Did you find anything helpful?" Aerith asked with hope in her eyes.

Yuffie nodded, "Where's the map?" She plopped in a chair at the table as Vincent laid out the map of Junon on the table. She pointed at the mansion, "Here's the mansion. As Tifa said, there's eight guards patrolling the exterior and another set of eight patrolling the interior of the walls. Over here," she moved her index to the right of the mansion. "That's the jail. And this is where we are." She said, dragging her finger south. "From what I gathered on the streets, Tifa's going to have a hanging tomorrow at noon. It's supposed to be a town event."

"A hanging?" Zack slammed his hands on the table. "Are you _serious_?"

Vincent narrowed his eyes dangerously. "How do you know if it's for sure?"

Yuffie reached into her pocket, pulling out a paper and placing it on the table. "This is the announcement for the hanging. It was on the town notice board."

Cloud grabbed the paper. "It's taking place at the town square." His brows furrowed, his eyes colored a tint of green.

Aerith's brows furrowed with worry. "What are we going to do?"

"Rescue her of course."

Vincent rolled his eyes, "Stupid Zack, she knows that. She was asking for a plan."

"Well for the hundredth time, we _don't have one._" Zack emphasized with annoyance.

"Don't talk to her like that." Cloud defended, shooting a glare in his direction.

"Yeah!" Yuffie piped.

Zack moved towards Cloud, towering over him with folded arms. "_Ooh_, sticking up for your little _girlfriend_ huh?"

He eyed Zack with a dangerous glare from the corner of his eyes. "And _whom_ exactly is my girlfriend?" He threatened in a low, dangerous tone.

"Oh, you know_—_"

"ENOUGH!" Vincent banged his fist on the table; causing the room to fall silent in an instant. "Tifa's life is on the line and you two are bickering for no reason at all. We're all agitated and anxious trying to think of a plan to save her, but arguing for the hell of it won't help anyone. So shut up or get out!"

"Sorry." Zack grumbled, looking away in annoyance as he walked back to the wall he was leaning against.

"..." Cloud stayed silent and crossed his arms, leaning back in his chair.

"I don't want to hear another word from anyone unless it's a plan to save Tifa." Vincent ordered.

Yuffie gasped, "I got it!" She slammed her hand on the table with excitement, grabbing everyone's immediate attention. "How about we..."

* * *

"A hanging?" Sephiroth raised a brow as he read the notice.

Gast nodded, "It seems Heidegger arranged it this morning."

"And what is the reason for this hanging exactly?"

He shrugged, "He won't say. He avoids the reason and finds an excuse to run away."

"Strange..." Sephiroth muttered under his breath.

Gast took a seat across from Sephiroth. "What are you planning?"

He let out an amused laugh. "What makes you say I'm planning something?"

"You furrowed your brows and pursed your lips as you read the notice. And those motions are what _you_ do when you're planning something."

"It seems that, as your age has indeed risen, your eyes and mind are still as sharp as ever."

"Of course!" Gast smirked from the praise. "So what are you planning?"

"Nothing." Sephiroth shrugged and leaned back into his seat, tossing the notice on the between the two men.

"Well, with your influence, I certainly hope you can come up with something and save the girl's life. Heidegger has definitely been taking too much advantage of his power."

"Nothing," Sephiroth paused and propped an elbow on the armrest, resting his chin on his knuckles. A distance gaze shone in his eyes. "Nothing yet."

* * *

"Seriously?" Tifa questioned with annoyance.

"You're lucky to be getting any food. I don't see why we have to give you food since you'll be going on with your hanging tomorrow." The guard grumbled.

"Hanging?" She furrowed her brows.

"Yeah. Lord Heidegger ordered for it to happen tomorrow. Well, enjoy your last meal." The guard smirked.

She watched as the guard walked up the stairs and shut the dungeon entrance. "You have _got_ to be kidding me." She huffed in annoyance, staring down at the half eaten bread and palm sized bowl of soup before her. She screamed to the ceiling, not noticing the dungeon door opening and someone walking in. "YOU COULD _AT LEAST_ UNTIE MY HANDS SO THAT I COULD EAT!" She screamed while tugging at her hands, hoping that either; one, someone would hear or two, she could manage to free her hands by pulling them free.

"Asking nicely would do just fine." A deep voice informed in front of her cell.

"You!" Her jaw dropped at the sight of Sephiroth.

He gave her a charismatic smirk.

"The bath pervert!"

As if there was a sweat drop on his temple, he gave her an exasperated look. He slapped a hand over his face, partially in disbelief and partially to cover his softly reddened face. Still, he couldn't believe she just said that to him. It took a mere few seconds for him to recollect himself and he cleared his throat once he did so. "Do you really have to call me that?"

"Well it's true isn't it?"

"It was an accident."

"Accident?" She raised a brow. "If it was an accident, then why wasn't there an apology?"

"Wh-what?" He stammered in surprise with both brows raised.

A dangerous smile crept up on her lips. "An A. Po. Lo. Gy." She emphasized. "Can you hear me now?"

"An apology? Why, I never_—_!" He said with exasperation. Never in his life has he been the one to apologize. Usually, other were apologizing to _him_!

She cocked a brow in his direction. "What? You said it was an accident right? Well, apologies are said when it comes to accidents. Since you admitted to being at fault, _you_ should be the one to apologize. Right?"

"..." He didn't know what to say.

"Well?"

Never has he met someone that dared to challenge him in such a way. But he had to admit, it was interesting_—_fun. He has yet to have been challenged by someone else and well, especially if it was coming from the woman before him, he rather enjoyed it. A piqued smirk planted firmly on his lips. He nodded and bowed, "I am humbly sorry for _accidentally_ peeping at you whilst you were bathing." He looked her in the eyes. "Happy?"

Tifa pursed her lips, "Hm...it'll do. So what's you name?"

"Sephiroth." He responded while he unlocked the cell door and walked inside, sitting on the floor before her.

"Sephiroth...ah!" She shouted in realization. "You're General Sephiroth and Jenova's son!"

He nodded, "I know."

"Ah, I see." She said to herself. She raised her guard, anyone related to Jenova was not one to be taken lightly.

He raised a brow, noting the sudden change in attitude and atmosphere. "What is it?"

"Ah," she quickly thought up an answer, "I'm hungry. Can you untie me already?" She grumbled.

"Sorry, rules are; prisoners can't be untied."

"Then how am I supposed to eat!"

"Here." He grabbed the bread and tore off a piece. "Open."

"Wh_—_mmff!" She began to say, but was cut off as he put the piece of bread in her mouth. She quickly chewed and swallowed the piece. "What are you doing!"

"Feeding you. You're hungry right?"

She pursed her lips and looked away with embarrassment. "Alright. But at least_—_"

Sephiroth grabbed her chin, forcing her to turn her head his way and stuffed another piece of bread in her mouth.

She quickly chewed and swallowed once again. "Sto_—_"

He shoved another piece of bread in her mouth, forcing her to shut up.

'This guy!' She grumbled in her mind whilst chewing her bread. She opened her mouth with an "Ah," waiting for the bread to plopped into her mouth.

"What, no talking for once?" He cocked a brow.

"Well since y_—_" Once again, she was forced to be quiet as he threw another piece into her mouth with a smirk on his face. "You're enjoying this aren't you?" She shot him a glare.

He shrugged. "Bread's done. Time for soup."

"Wait. Before that," She paused, waiting for his full attention.

"What?"

"Am I really going to be hanged tomorrow?"

"Yup." He said, feeding her a spoon full of soup.

She swallowed the soup, then proceeded to open her mouth to speak. "What time?"

"Noon." He replied, feeding her another spoonful.

"I see."

"What?" He raised a brow, "Are you planning something?" An intrigued smirk crossed his features.

She shrugged, "Isn't it natural for _anyone_ to plan something once they hear that they're about to die?" He fed her a spoonful after every sentence.

"Maybe you deserve it."

Tifa scoffed. "_I _deserve it? Oh yes, because protecting a child from getting beaten by _the amazing Lord Heidegger_ is such a crime." Sarcasm oozed from her lips as she rolled her eyes.

"..." Sephiroth was speechless.

"What?" She asked with annoyance.

"That's really why you're in jail and sentenced to hang?"

"Yup."

He let out a disbelieving laugh. "Really?"

She grumbled and sighed, "Yeah."

"Well," he set the bowl down and stood up. "Your finished eating. So I'm done here."

"Okay..." A pout formed on her lips.

"Have fun planning your escape." He stepped out of the cell and locked the door. "See you at your hanging." He turned away, stepping towards the door.

"Wait!"

Sephiroth paused, looking back at her over his shoulder; waiting for her to continue.

She shifted towards the cell door. "You're just going to sit and watch? You're not going to help?" Her eyes begged him, her lips and chin were slightly pouting and scrunched. This look was bound to make anyone cave into doing whatever she wanted. This, was the puppy dog look.

Unfortunately, this look didn't work on Sephiroth. "Pretty much," he shrugged. "It's my job to just go, sit, and watch. So bye." And with that, he left for the door.

"Ah! How cold! HEARTLESS!" She screamed at him, but he simply ignored her and went through the door.

* * *

"Lord Sephiroth, it's time for breakfast. The sun has risen, so please get up." A maid said as she drew the curtains to his bed chamber.

Sephiroth grumbled, pulling the sheets over his head once the sun rays shined onto his face.

"Lord Sephiroth," the maid shook him, trying to wake the sleeping general. "It's time to get up."

He groaned in response and slowly sat up with a sigh. "Bring Kunsel and Luxiere in here. I need to speak with them."

The maid nodded and left to retrieve the two men.

Sephiroth unwillingly crawled out of bed and trudged to the table with his toothbrush and bowl of water. A knock came from the door as he was brushing his teeth, "Come in!" He said with his brush hanging in his mouth.

"Lord Sephiroth, I've brought Kunsel and Luxiere." The maid informed with a respective bow as she led the two men into the room.

He nodded and waved his hand, motioning for her to leave.

Luxiere stepped forward and questioned Sephiroth. "Is there a reason why you've summoned us Lord Sephiroth?" He ran a muscular hand through his dark brown hair, pushing them out of the way of his hazel eyes.

Sephiroth nodded before gargling his mouth and spitting the water back into the bowl. "It's about the hanging that is to take place this afternoon."

"The hanging?" Kunsel questioned, with curious chocolate brown eyes. "I don't understand," he brought a muscular hand up and scratched the back of his head. Strands of his auburn colored hair tangled with his fingers as he did so. Like Luxiere, he too was a built man_—_probably as built as Luxiere himself. And because both were in the same soldier class_—_class two_—_both wore red army uniforms. "Why are you interested in a hanging that doesn't concern us in any way?"

Sephiroth grabbed his clothes and walked behind the room divider to change. "If you have not forgotten, our main focus of coming to Junon was to see whether or not Heidegger was fit to run this town."

"Yes, I remember."

"And you think he isn't, is that right? Luxiere questioned.

"That's right." Sephiroth stated, walking out from behind the divider when he finished. "Do you two _know_ the reason why that woman is being hanged today?"

The two soldiers exchanged confused looks. "Wasn't it because she tried to attack Lord Heidegger?" Kunsel guessed.

"No. It was because she went against him and protected a child that he was about to beat."

"What?" Kunsel scrunched his brows together in disbelief. "Are you serious?"

Sephiroth raised a brow at him.

"You should know by now, Lord Sephiroth is _always_ serious." Luxiere whispered under his breath, but Sephiroth was still able to to hear his comment.

"That's true." Kunsel nodded in agreement.

The silver haired general rolled his eyes at the comments.

"So what are we going to do?"

"You have a plan don't you?" Luxiere asked.

Kunsel whacked Luxiere over the head. "Of course he has a plan! He's the general for a reason! He _always_ has a plan." He paused, turning to Sephiroth with a hopeful gleam in his eyes. "You _do_ have a plan don't you?"

The silver haired general responded with an eye roll. "You two are morons."

"But we're two _lovable_ morons~" The two sang in unison with a cheeky grin.

"_Complete_ morons." He stated once again with a deadpan voice. "And of course I have a plan. Why would I bring this up to you two if I didn't have a plan?"

Luxiere nodded, "Good point."

"Wait."

"What is it Kunsel?"

"We're going against Heidegger and he's one of Shinra's top advisors. If we go against him, we're basically going against Shinra."

"That's why we aren't going to attack him _directly_." Sephiroth explained. "You know, if you just let me speak then you would be able to hear my plan and _then_ we can avoid all this useless talking."

"All right, all right, we're all ears." Luxiere tapped his ear and held a thumbs up.

"Yup, yup." Kunsel nodded with a grin.

* * *

"What a great morning! Clear skies, bright sun, joyous faces." Heidegger grinned merrily in his seat that over looked the town square. He watched as the citizens began crowding the hanging platform.

"You seem quite happy." Gast noted as he and Sephiroth took a seat to the right of Heidegger; Gast was to the immediate right, while Sephiroth was seated on the far right of Heidegger.

"Of course! That wretched girl is finally paying for her actions."

"And what was it that she did again?" Sephiroth questioned, eying Heidegger's reactions. He watched as Heidegger's fists clenched and a nervous gulp went down his throat.

After a moment of hesitation, he finally mustered up a response. "B-because she attacked me!"Sweat beads began forming on his brows and in the palm of his hands. His fingers were trembling slightly. Man, he couldn't stand the piercing gaze of Sephiroth's green eyes. Those cold, penetrating green eyes_—_eyes color that only members of Jenova's blood would have.

"Is that so." Sephiroth said with mild interest and a hint of disbelief.

Gast averted his attention to Sephiroth. The silver haired man was definitely planning something. And he wanted in on it. He gave him a look as if asking Sephiroth, 'What are you planning?'

In return, the green eyed man simply shrugged.

Gast sighed, "This guy." He muttered quietly under his breath. He diverted his gaze over the crowded square, skimming and glancing over the citizens. It was then, in a flash, that a blur of red sprinted through the crowd. "Did you see that!" Surprise took over as he pointed towards the platform.

"See what?" Heidegger edged off his seat, stretching his body upwards as if it would help him oversee the crowd better.

"There was a flash of red running through the crowd a moment ago." His eyes searched through the crowd, hoping to find whatever the red blur was.

"There's nothing there. Just the citizens." Sephiroth stated leaning back into his seat. He propped his elbow up on the armrest and rest his cheek on his fist, waiting for the time to pass.

"I guess it was just my imagination..." Gast said slowly as he sank back into his seat.

"Ha!" Heidegger let out a laugh. "It seems your age has caught up to your mind, aye Gast?"

"So it seems." He replied with a small breath of laughter.

"Well then," Heidegger began once he received a thumbs up from the executioner at the platform. "It seems that the preparations are complete and all of Junon is here to witness the spectacular event." He said with an excited grin. "Guard!" He bellowed to the guard that was simply standing behind him.

"Yes, My Lord?" The guard questioned with a bow.

"Bring out the girl. Everything is completed."

The guard merely nodded and quickly left to retrieve Tifa.

Although looking around with a bored expression, Sephiroth glanced around, noting all escape routes and guards that were under Heidegger's command. In a split second, two gleam of lights shot his eyes. Flinching slightly, he looked to the left and then straight ahead, acknowledging that both his top subordinates were in position and ready to execute their plan.

* * *

Aerith waited silently on the tree branch. Her left hand gripped her bow tightly, beads of sweat formed in her palms.

"Nervous?"

She glanced down at Cloud, whom was leaning against the tree she was in.

"Nope." She replied with a small smile. Liar. Sweat building up around her body, her hand slightly trembling, quickening breath. She _only_ had one second and one chance to save her friend's life by not missing the rope with her arrow. Oh no, she wasn't nervous _at all_.

Cloud glanced up, noticing her trembling hands. He let out a small chuckle. "Relax. You can only save her if you relax. Take a deep breath and relax."

Aerith stayed silent and did as told. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. Slowly but surely, her breathing slowed to a calm pace, her body wasn't secreting as much sweat, and the tremble in her hands subsided. "Thank you." She said with a warm smile.

He nodded, "Of course."

She relaxed her shoulders, leaning against the trunk of the tree. She looked around, examining her surroundings. She watched as Nanaki_—_in a flash_—_bolt through the crowd and under the trap door of the platform. Above him, the executioner finished with completing any last preparations on platform and signaled a thumbs up to Heidegger. She noticed an older gentleman sitting beside Heidegger and beside him sat a silver haired man. 'Must be important people.' She thought to herself. In an instant, a gleam of light shone through the leaves of a tree to her right and another shone from a balcony in Heidegger's mansion. "Cloud! Did you see that?"

He looked up and raised a brow at her, "See what?"

"There were two rays of light shining somewhere." She answered, her eyes were searching around for the rays.

"It was probably nothing."

"I don't know..." She replied with doubt.

"Well just keep your eyes peeled for anything else."

"Okay."

"Ladies and gentlemen!" Heidegger called from his main balcony. "The time has come for the execution of the unruly law breaker, Tifa Sierra!" He yelled with excitement, pumping up the crowd; which only some cheered, while others spread murmurs throughout the square. "This unruly wench _dared_ to attack me! _Me_, of all people! And who know, she might attack anyone of you next! So to end with her life!" And with this, the crowd cheered louder and the murmurs subsided. He looked at the crowd with triumph. A victorious grin dawned his features. "Bring out the wretched girl!"

"Bastard." Cloud growled as he pushed himself off the tree with his foot.

"Easy now." Vincent said walking towards him. "Yuffie and Zack are in position. They managed to sneak into the mansion with ease."

"Then it's our turn?"

He nodded in reply. "Let's get into position." He glanced up at Aerith, "We're counting on you."

Aerith smiled, "Yes, no pressure right?"

Vincent let out an amused scoff. "There's nothing _but_ pressure."

"Gee, thanks." She grumbled. "Ah, she's coming out."

"Let's go." Vincent instructed as Cloud followed suit as they both weaved through the crowd.

Tifa walked onto the stage like platform. Luckily, her ankles weren't tied so she was able to walk with ease. But to her misfortune, her wrists were still tied behind her back.

"Move faster." The guard grunted, shoving her forward.

"Hey!" She barked. "It's my death, I can walk however fast I want towards it. Got it?"

He rolled his eyes and grunted, "Shut up."

"Ew, rude." She scrunched up her nose in disgust.

"Hurry up!" He barked, shoving her once again.

"Ow!" She yelped out, almost stumbling forward.

"All yours." He said to the executioner and left.

The executioner grabbed Tifa by the arm, leading her to stand above the trap door. He grabbed the rope, putting her head through the loop, and tightening it around her neck. "Done."

"Trap door, huh?" Tifa noted, staring down beneath her feet. Gently, she made a small hop on the door; testing its sturdiness and seeing how high she would go.

"What are you doing!" The executioner barked, grabbing her arm; forcing her to stop.

"Testing it." She grinned.

He shot her a glare, "Well stop." He turned to Heidegger, giving him another thumbs up.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" He paused, watching as all eyes were on him. "The time has come. Let the hanging begin!"

The crowd cheered, screaming in excitement for what's about to come.

Tifa closed her eyes, trying to calm down her fast paced heart. Once her shoulders relaxed, she eyed the executioner in the corner of her eyes, waiting for him to release the trap door in any second. She could hear her heart pounding in her ears as she anticipated the moment. A nervous jitter ran through her body. No, right now wasn't the time to be nervous. If she wanted the plan to succeed, she had to be calm and focused. She only had one life, so she only had one chance to make it happen.

_CLANG._

In a split second, the executioner pulled the lever; releasing the trap door.

* * *

**Alright! There's chapter 15!**

Sorry it took forever...I was working on another story. And i just moved out of the house and INTO COLLEGE. WOOT WOOT.

**So much fun here! Met so many people...mainly guys, since for some reason I'm not good at making girl friends. ._. It's like they naturally don't like me or something. *cry in the corner* I only made like 4 girl friends so far :'( Sadlife.**

**Well! I'm rambling...I'll try to update faster next time!**

thedoggydog2**: Sorry it took so long! OF COURSE I LOVE YOU GUYS! LOL I honestly don't know when they're gonna kiss...hahahahhaha**

iNuocMam**: Haha, wait no longer! The chappie is up! :D**

Irish-Brigid**: LOL apparently only when he's effin mad LOL**

Emo-chan**: LOL Apparently she's supposed to die hahahahahaha**

**thanks as well to **Ataea, gustavoleocadio, My Whispers in the Dark, AquaticSilver, thedoggydog2, livingdoll14, shortystar360, and MidnightAngel 1095. **Dang, some of you have some long names! Thanks for the add though!  
**

**Thanks guys! I love youu alllllll :)  
**

**updating soon hopefully!**

**_-sportiegrl~_  
**


	16. Chapter 16: Jail Break Part 2

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**IP 16: JAIL BREAK PART 2**

The crowd of gatherers instinctively shielded their eyes, afraid to see the woman's expression.

Time froze for Tifa. The moment she felt the floor move, she quickly jumped up, bringing her legs up to her stomach. Immediately, she swung her bound wrists from under and to the front of her body. Quickly reaching up, she grabbed hold of the rope that suspended her in mid-air. Using what's left of her strength, she slightly pulled her body up. Damn was she lucky that Cid forced her to undergo Zangan's training. She definitely had to thank him for that later.

"Hey! What is this?" Heidegger roared, jumping onto his feet. "Someone! Shoot her dead!"

Aerith looked as Tifa proceeded to loosen the rope's loop around her neck. Quickly, she readied her bow, aiming the arrow at the section above Tifa's hand.

_Whizz._

The arrow cut through the air once Aerith released it. It proceeded to fly through the air, cutting through one side of the rope; loosening the other yarns. She grit her teeth and clicked her tongue in irritation as she reached for another arrow from her quiver.

_Whizz. Whizz. Whizz._

More arrows sliced through the air. But this time, it wasn't from Aerith. She whipped her head to the tree across from her. _'That's where the light came from earlier...'_ She thought to herself. Squinting her eyes, she noticed a figure sitting on a branch well hidden by the leaves. _'That means…the balcony too!'_ Just as she suspected, there was another man at the balcony with his quiver strung and readied. _'What's going on here?'_

The first arrow sliced through the rest of the yarns that suspended Tifa in midair, while the other two killed the two archers aimed at Tifa. In a split second, she went through the trap door and landed elegantly on her feet beneath the platform. "I guess they saw my note." She smiled to herself. Her smile grew once she saw the red lion waiting for her beneath the platform. "Nanaki!"

* * *

Because of all the commotion Tifa—as well as Heidegger—was causing, none besides Sephiroth and Gast noticed the ashy and burning smell coming from inside the mansion. Calmly and smoothly, both men quietly moved their chairs closer towards the rails of the balcony and shielded their mouths and nostrils from the smoke.

"Where'd she go?" Heidegger ran to the railing, leaning forward as much as possible, searching for any sign of the prisoner. "Someone find her!" Chaos ensued amongst the crowd as soldiers forced their way through, pushing and shoving, searching for Tifa. "Hurry up! Go look under the platform! She should be under—!"

_BOOM!_

At that moment, an explosion sounded from inside the manor. Smoke danced in the air, window glass that broke into hundreds of pieces fell through the sky, all whilst screams of fear from the citizens howled through the winds; it was utter chaos. The citizens were in complete fear, running around as if they lost their heads; pushing, shoving, and trampling over each other.

"My home!" Heidegger exclaimed with wide, fearful eyes. "No! What happened?"

Sephiroth kept his nose and mouth with his sleeve and looked over at the opposite balcony to which his subordinate was positioned. With a quick nod of his head, an arrow shot through the sky, penetrating Heidegger in the square of his back.

The oversized man fell forward on his front side with a loud thud. Eyes widened, his hand reached forward towards Sephiroth as the word "help" croaked from his weakened breath.

Narrowing his eyes, Sephiroth moved his leg away from the grubby, plump fingers of the dying man. "Performing such unjust actions, abandoning your people for your greed, _this_ is your punishment." Standing from his seat, smoothly, he unsheathed his sword and plunged it through the core of Heidegger's spine. Blood sputtered from his plump lips as his body gave a small twitch before he finally collapsed with his last breath. "Gast, let's quickly get out of here before the whole place is destroyed. The fire doesn't seemed to have spread around too far, there's a large possibility that we can find another way out other than jumping over the balcony."

With one quick look at Heidegger's dead body and one onward at the fire, Gast gulp and gave a nod at Sephiroth before proceeding to closely follow him to find an exit.

* * *

Cloud and Vincent shoved through the crowd and towards the platform. "Damn it!" Cloud cursed as he tried pushing through the townsmen running towards him. "Out of the way!"

Vincent grunted, "This is retarded." He stopped pushing and firmly planted his feet in the ground, so the oncoming and chaotic crowd wouldn't push him to the ground. He brought two fingers to his lips blew air from his lips; a high-pitched whistle filled the skies.

Instantly, Nanaki jumped out from under the platform and bolted through the crowd. Tifa, riding on his back, clenched tightly to the red lion's fur. She looked up at the mansion, her eyes slowly widened as she watched the flames dance within the manor. Memories flashed through her mind. The engulfing fire of her home and kingdom, the screams of her people, it was all coming back to her.

"There she is!" A soldier yelled, grabbing his sword and charging at Nanaki.

Nanaki quickly dodged the attack, roaring as more soldiers followed his tracks.

In the midst of dodging the attacks, Nanaki didn't notice Tifa's palms were slowly unclenching his fur. "Whoa!" Tifa cried as she flew off of Nanaki and into the wall of the armory store, her head roughly banged against the wooden wall; knocking her unconscious.

"We got her!" A soldier yelled victoriously, striding towards her with his sword rose in the air.

Nanaki roared, charging to pounce at the soldier. But quickly, his plans were ruined when a second soldier swung his sword at him, forcing him to dodge and focus his attention on the new opponent. Nanaki let out another roar as he dangerously backed up, preparing another pounce, but in subsequence, two more soldiers joined their comrade in surrounding him; preventing him from helping his unconscious master.

* * *

"Tifa! Nanaki!" Vincent shouted from a distance, watching as Tifa fell off of Nanaki's back.

Cloud whipped his head around in the direction Vincent was facing, eyes searching for the two. His worried eyes quickly widened and lastly, shifted into anger; brows narrowed and green slowly appeared on the iris of his eyes. "Move!" He shoved harder, forcing his way to the other side of the crowd. "Out of the way!" He drew his sword, raising it in the air. More screams filled the air as people either ray in opposite directions of him or cowered in fear before him.

"Over there! They must be her accomplices!" A guard shouted to his comrades whilst pointing at Cloud and Vincent.

"Shit." Vincent cursed under his breath. "Thanks a lot Blondie."

He ignored the remark. "I don't have time for this." He growled with annoyance.

"Where's the archer when we need her!" Vincent yelled as he ran forward to attack.

Cloud quickly glanced back at the tree where Aerith was positioned in, "She's busy shooting people." He quickly jumped to the left to avoid an attack. Immediately, he ran forward, slashing downward at his opponent, whom in return blocked it.

Left and right, Vincent swerved around, dodging attacks and parrying with his own. "What about Zack and Yuffie? There's too many of these damn soldiers!"

"No clue." Cloud grunted, kicking and slashing his buster sword at his opponents.

* * *

"Finally!" Gast coughed, as he and Sephiroth made their way out of the mansion.

Sephiroth coughed, and waved the smoke away from his face. He eyed his surroundings, looking for the intriguing convict woman.

"Hey, Sephiroth. Look over there!" Gast pointed to the left.

He looked over at whatever Gast was calling his attention for. In that instant, he watched at Tifa toppled off of the red haired feline. He quickly drew his sword and ran forward, hoping to reach her before the soldier had a chance to plunge his sword through her body. He heard the lion roar, the screaming and shouting in the distance, but he ignored all of it, solely focusing on pumping his legs faster. In a flash, Sephiroth held his sword at his side and in a moment swung it in an upward motion, slicing cleanly through the chest of the soldier. Rather than wasting his time and facing more opponents, he quickly sheathed his sword and carried Tifa over his back.

"Hey! Where do you think you're going with her!" A voice shouted from a distance behind him.

He quickly turned his head back, to glance at the man shouting at him, just before running back to Gast. He noted the man was rather tall and built, had spiky jet-black hair, and blue eyes. While besides him was a puny girl with tomboy short brown hair and hazel eyes.

"Don't you run away!" The girl shouted at him.

But as a classic Sephiroth, he ignored the two and beckoned Gast to follow him to the outskirts of the town.

* * *

"Tifa!" Cloud shouted from the distance as he saw a silver haired man carry her away.

Vincent turned his head over at Tifa, eyes widened when he caught a glimpse of the kidnapper's face. Silver hair, emerald eyes, and the face of his best friend from his native village. It couldn't be…could it? In the midst of his thoughts, he didn't notice the soldier trying to attack him from the right.

"Watch out!" Cloud shouted, pushing Vincent to the side and bringing his own sword up to block the attack. He quickly drew his sword back and ducked down, bringing his leg out and swept the soldier off his feet. Quickly, he stabbed the soldier in the chest, killing him in a second. He whipped his head back around at Vincent. "Stop dozing off!"

Vincent quickly regained his composure and narrowed his eyes dangerously at the blond hair man. "I don't need you telling me what to do."

A spark of amusement and satisfaction flashed in Cloud's eyes. "Good. Now let's get this fight over with so we can save her."

* * *

"Damn, that was one battle." Zack said breathlessly. "Nonstop soldiers coming out of nowhere."

Yuffie nodded in agreement, "The fire is finally put out too."

"It wouldn't have taken all day if two certain people didn't make it so big." Vincent sneered.

"It was supposed to be a big boom and cause a commotion! _Which_ it did."

"High five." Zack grinned and high fived his partner in crime.

"Kids." Vincent rolled his eyes.

"Hey, break time is over. You guys have to help clean too." Aerith instructed with a smile.

Cloud nodded, "The faster we get this town cleaned up, the faster we can move on and find Tifa."

"That reminds me, why did that guy kidnap her?" Yuffie wondered.

"No clue, but when I find that bastard…" Zack narrowed his eyes and punched his fist into his palm.

"…" Vincent stayed silent. "That guy..." He said quietly.

"Who?" Aerith tilted her head in a questioning manner.

"He looks exactly like my best friend from my old village."

"The guy that kidnapped Tifa?"

He nodded in response.

"That guy was sitting with Heidegger on the balcony." Cloud remembered.

"Are you talking about Lord Sephiroth?" Grandpa inquired. "I couldn't help but overhear you all talking about him."

"Sephiroth? That's his name?" Aerith asked.

He nodded in response. "He's the son of Jenova and the strongest warrior in her kingdom."

"Then it's impossible for him to be your childhood friend, Vincent. Remember? Jenova wiped out your entire village." Zack stated.

Vincent furrowed his brows in confusion. Nothing was adding up any more. He was certain the man was his friend from back in the day. They shared the same exact features; it had to be him.

"Anyways, Gramps, do you know where the general guy would be going to next?" Zack asked.

Grandpa put a hand on his chin, thinking of the possibilities. "Most likely back home, to Midgar."

"That's north of here. If we set out by tomorrow morning, we could make it there within the next few days." Vincent stated.

"Sounds like a plan." Cloud nodded.

"Then let's finish the cleaning!" Aerith said merrily.

"Why is she so happy about cleaning…" Yuffie quietly questioned the group as they watched Aerith walk away humming.

"Better yet…why is she always so happy?" Zack asked with a brow raised.

"…" Shrugged responses were what he received.

* * *

"Kunsel, Luxiere, you two finally caught up." Sephiroth greeted from his spot next to the campfire.

"Hello Lord Sephiroth, Lord Gast." Both greeted in unison with a bow.

"Forget the formalities," Gast said with a wave of his hand. "Here, here. Sephiroth caught some fish for us to eat. Take one." He handed them each a stick with fish on it.

The two of them nodded and took a fish. "She's still unconscious?" Kunsel raised a brow at Tifa.

Gast nodded. "It seems she hit her head when she fell off the lion. We'll have to wait until we get back to Midgar to give her proper medical treatment."

Sephiroth took a bite out of his dinner as he eyed the sleeping woman through the corner of his eyes.

"So what was the true reason we had to rescue her?" Luxiere inquired with a mischievous smile.

"It was an unjust hanging." He replied casually.

"Hm…you know it wasn't because she has a pretty face?" Kunsel winked, throwing him a smirk.

"Although Gast said to drop the formalities, you do remember that it was _I_ whom instructed that, right?" His voiced lowered, giving the two a warning.

Kunsel and Luxiere gulped and proceeded to quickly eat their fish.

Sephiroth let a small and amused smirk creep onto his lips. Oh how he loved his authority over his soldiers.

* * *

**Alright...there's Chapter 17.**

**Sorry it took forever and it's super short and it's a BLAH chapter :/ Busy with school and no inspiration ._.**

My Whispers In The Dark**: glad you liked the last chapter :)**

...reviewer with no name... lol **: glad you enjoyed the previous chapters...but this one is rather disappointing... :/**

6jrz422**: lol thanks. college...love it but i hate cramming for tests ._.**

Emo-Chan the Awesome**: LOL you're so cute. yup, i'm evil. THUGLIFE. lol**

The Sage of Hyrule**: lol glad you're so excited about updates :O**

preettygabbysz**: glad you liked it :) or...well loved it :)) lol**

AquaticSilver**: lololololol maybe...maybe ;) **

Irish-Brigid**: Ah...well it's technically not OOC since I decided to go along with his character during "Crisis Core" because he was more...emotional and joked a little I guess? I saw it as he, Cloud, and Vincent are rather...VERY VERY similar in their "don't talk to me, i hate the world" type. lol And it would be rather boring to have three of those types :X**

thedoggydog2**: ****lol glad you like :)))) p.s..your user name reminds me of snoop dog x] LOL**

**Thanks for the add/fave: **MeLoveStrife**,** Sabby-Sama**, **theGazettEfreak** (OH! GazettE OMG I love their song "filth in the beauty" :] I LOVE RUKI ^-^ And Reita...BUT ESPECIALLY RUKI! LOL), ****and** preettygabbysz

**So...Basically, a quick update. :) Home for winter break. woot woot. But sadly...I got back to school right after new years :( um...hopefully I can update before spring break...since I'm gonna be busy during spring break as well...if anything, I'll try to update before or during spring break. :) Sorry guys :/ School + Greek Life = THUGLIFE LOL Kidding, it actually equals NO LIFE. ._. That's why I've been uber busy and haven't been able to update until now :/ and it's a crappy update too...I'LL MAKE THE NEXT ONE BETTER. PROMISE!**

**Merry belated Christmas/holidays/or...I want to say Hanukkah but I don't know when that is celebrated...um...Happy New Years. 2012. Come At Me Bro. **

**Happy Birthdays/Past birthdays/upcoming birthdays :)  
**

**Well thanks everyone :))**

**_-sportiegrl out~  
_**


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